782 Parturient Paresis. 



proniiiient syiiijitoiii ; be«idos milk fever altliough at first yi^'ug tlie impression of a 

 very severe illness, generally ends in recovery, whilst ptomaine poisoning and other 

 bacterial toxins generally lead to death if once they have caused a severe ill- 

 ness. Also in a general vasamotor paralysis it is hard to believe that there is a 

 copious flow of blood to the udder, because in this condition the slackened blood 

 vessels supplied by the splanchnic take up the greater part of the l)lood so that the 

 other organs situated outside of the abdominal cavity, and consequently also the 

 udder, experience a deficiency of blood. Finally the diminution of milk secretion as 

 well as also the slackness and flaccidity of the udder that are observed frequently 

 cannot be made to agree with a hyperemia of this organ. 



Recently many veterinary surgeons have heen inclined to accept the 

 hypothesis of the existence of an autointoxication. Ehrhardt and Al- 

 hrecht held the view that protein substances collected in the tissues of 

 the mother animal and used up hy the fetus, during pregnancy, may 

 after birth be changed into material having a toxic effect. Eber's view 

 was that a toxigenous substance originated in the pregnant uterus which 

 was changed into a poison by the active metaliolism in well nourished 

 vigorous cows, whilst Mamadyschky claimed uremia as the cause, be- 

 cause ho found albumen in the urine of sick cows, also renal elements, 

 and on histological examination changes pointing to nephritis. 



Schmidt (of Kolding), on purely theoretical grounds, put forward a 

 new intoxication theory, according to which the origin of the formation 

 of the poison was in the udder. Originally he believed that the poison- 

 ous material developed through the decomposition of the colostrum cor- 

 puscles which he believed to be epithelial cells ; later he assumed toxins de- 

 veloping in the udder in some unkno^m manner, which after absorption 

 into the blood produced a poisoning of the whole system. — According to 

 Sonnenberg the milk contains substances which have a toxic effect on 

 rabbits and the amount of which is increased in parturition paresis. — 

 Hemprich imputed an intoxication to certain combinations of proteins 

 that are not used up in the milk secretion, whilst according to Meyer, 

 and also to Leclainche, the causes of milk fever might be sought in cer- 

 tain poisons formed in the body and only incompletely excreted through 

 the udder. Finally Delmer accuses the absorption of poisonous material 

 from the udder, which is formed there by the disintegration of protein 

 substances, stimulated by some proteolytic ferment. In favor of this 

 hypothesis the cases of illness similar to parturient paresis, but which 

 develop independently of parturition may be cited. 



Tlie hypothesis advanced by Schmidt, as well as those others that were similar 

 to it, were based solely upon the results secured by the treatment of the disease. 

 As will be shown further on, hoAvever, the favorable results from these therapeutical 

 methods are not at all adapted to prove the correctness of the above mentioned 

 hypotheses. Authors other than Mamadyschky have not found any support for the 

 uremic theory, and besides the degree of albuminuria that is occasionally present 

 bears no relation to the severity of the symptoms. 



If after all it appears to be most probable that milk fever 

 arises from an intoxication it must, for the present, be left 

 undecided whether the origin of the intoxication is to be looked 

 for in the uterus or in the udder or in the entire organism. 

 The experiences made concerning anaphylaxia admit the pos- 

 sibility that parturition paresis is merely a form of anaphylaxis 



