192 CONTAGIOUS DISEASES. 



" The granular masses and pus corpuscles decreased in 

 number as the affection subsided; but in all the specimens 

 examined after the animals had recovered, they were found 

 scattered here and there among the milk corpuscles, and even 

 in specimens which were examined a month after recovery they 

 were detected. The granular masses were not found in milk 

 from the same animals two months after recovery ; but even in 

 these specimens a few pus-like corpuscles were present. 



" Two examples of milk taken from cows on the fourth day 

 of the disease were found to be highly charged with granular 

 masses ; the milk, however, was remarkably rich in quality, 

 having a specific gravity of 1034, and yielding a large propor- 

 tion of cream. Diminution of the quantity of milk is invariably 

 observed during the progress of any febrile disease, and in foot- 

 and-mouth complaint the loss is sometimes considerable. 



" Cows, when suffering from the worst form of disease, lose 

 nearly all their milk ; but when the attack is mild in character, 

 the decrease will not be more than one-third of the usual yield. 

 The average loss in a large dairy while the disease is going 

 through the sheds will vary from one-third to two-thirds, accord- 

 ing to the number of severe cases. As all the milk obtained is 

 mixed, the worst milk will be to some extent modified by the 

 addition of that which is less highly charged with morbid 

 elements, and the whole is further diluted by the addition of 

 water, which, judging from some specimens obtained from an 

 establishment where the disease was known to exist among the 

 cows, is sometimes added to the extent of 40 per cent. Boiling 

 the milk has been recommended for the purpose of preventing 

 or lessening its injurious action ; but, as a matter of fact, it may 

 be stated that boiling does not alter the appearance of the 

 morbid elements, nor does it arrest the movements of bacteria 

 •in the fluid." 



In ordinary cases of eczema the symptoms are not very severe, 

 and provided the feet are not seriously implicated, the animals 

 recover in about a week from the first manifestation of the 

 febrile symptoms. In many instances, particularly if the weather 

 be cold and the cattle exposed, a hoarse tracheal cough is pre- 

 sent, with much discharge from the trachea and bronchial tubes, 

 whilst in aggravated cases the mucous membrane of the intes- 

 tinal canal is very seriously involved, and when vesicles appear 



