CHRONIC SCROFULOUS SYNOVITIS. 209 



mucli heat, or pain upon pressure. The swelling gradually 

 enlarges, and is of a doughy, elastic nature ; the limb below it 

 seems to waste ; the animal begins to lose condition ; the lame- 

 ness and pain increase ; and suppuration may take place ; but 

 this is by no means a uniform result. 



In some cases constitutional symptoms of scrofula may pre- 

 cede the manifestation of the joint disease; when this is the 

 case, the diagnosis will be rendered easy, and the practitioner 

 need not hesitate to condemn the animal to slaughter. 



Pathological Anatomy. — The structures around the joint will 

 be found infiltrated in circumscribed spots with a yellowash- 

 white, caseous, solid material (tubercle), and the synovial mem- 

 brane studded upon its surface with yellowish-white globular 

 bodies, which, when cut into, present the same tubercular charac- 

 ter. These bodies vary from the size of a turnip seed to that of 

 a large pea. 



The membrane itself is found of a greyish- white colour, and 

 gelatinous in appearance, with its vessels in some parts highly 

 injected; the synovial fluid curdy, and more opaque than 

 natural ; the cartilages of incrustation, as w^ell as the ends of the 

 bones removed by ulceration, causing the interior of the joint to 

 present a worm-eaten appearance. In the interior of the bones, 

 round spots of tubercular matter are seen in the cancelli. 



In dissecting the various structures, it will be found that the 

 skin, the subcutaneous tissues, and synovial membrane are matted 

 together into an almost inseparable mass. 



Tlie causes are, as already indicated, constitutional, and when- 

 ever scrofula in any of its forms makes its appearance in a herd, it 

 will be high time to infuse new blood into it. Exceptional cases 

 may, however, arise from neglect or other debilitating influence. 



The treatment can be but palliative ; the preparation of the 

 animal for the butcher being the only end to be gained. The 

 application of blisters to the part will often remove the inflamma- 

 tion for a brief period, and thus allow the animal to put on fat. 



The patient must be stall-fed, kept as quiet as possible ; to 

 have food of the most fattening nature; cod-liver oil may be 

 given night and morning. If the disease has made much pro- 

 gxess before the practitioner is called in, or if, in spite of the 

 treatment recommended, it continue to advance, the animal had 

 better be put out of its suffering. 



P 



