GENERAL PATHOLOCtY. 75 



the speck-like expanse of epithelium which invests the exter- 

 nal surface of this miniature circulation. 



Whether these processes of congestion and desquamation 

 in the Pest are precisely^ the same in epizootic aphtha or 

 eczema, is not probable, if analogy be sought with the ob- 

 served action of the latter disease in the fourth stomach, (see 

 p. 40,) where hsemorrhagic or apoplectic effusion and erosion, 

 sometimes attended or followed by melanotic deposits, seem 

 to take the place of the simpler lesions which result from pure 

 capillary congestion in the former malady. 'No careful inqui- 

 sition has, as far as we can learn, been as yet instituted to 

 demonstrate or disprove in the membranes lining the mouth 

 and pharynx, the difference of action just indicated. 



The appearance to the eye of these lesions in the mouth 

 and the common phenomena of smacking the lips, of aphthous 

 eruption and salivary discharge, are said to be the same 

 in both affections; and to distinguish between the two, 

 resort is had in order to identify the eczema, to the morbid 

 condition of the cleft of the lame foot, the papulae on the 

 teats and the symptoms of congestion and inflammation of 

 the udder.* 



The unwary might also easily be deceived by the redness 

 of the vagina which exists in the case of those that have 

 recently calved, or aborted after long gestation, or who 

 arrive at the period of sexual excitement ; if looking only at 

 the arterial color of the parts to which the unusual flow of 

 blood is directed in these processes of nature, they should im- 

 agine a general papillary congestion to have taken place, not 

 to be resolved and fade away without epithelial disorganiza- 

 tion. 



Nay, it is further said, that in those who are ruminating in 

 pastures and daily yielding a full flow of milk, a like rubes- 

 cent demonstration not unfrequently takes place, so that the 

 mere indications of color may be fallacious. Unless then, the 

 sanguineous tinge of the vulva be seen on the near approach 

 or in immediate presence of the Epizootic Pest, it would be 



 Qamgee's Cattle riague, p. 56. 



