IXODIC ANiEMIA — TEXAS FEVER, ETC. 41 7 



^.pparently quite well. The pulse and respiration then become 

 accelerated, and the urine is now observed to have the appear- 

 ance of blood, varying in colour, — reddish, claret, or blackish 

 red water (h?emoglobinuria) in the most acutely fatal cases. Out 

 of forty-six fatal cases (Bureau of Animal Industry, Washington, 

 1893), haemoglobin was found in the urine in the bladder of 

 thirty-three after death. It is uncertain whether this condition 

 of the urine is present in all cases of the acute form, the opinion 

 of the reporters to the American Bureau being that it " depends 

 upon the rapidity with which the red corpuscles are infected and 

 destroyed. A slow destruction may allow other organs to 

 excrete the debris and thus forestal the discharge of haemoglobin 

 in the urine." But if free from haemoglobin, the urine at the 

 height of the fever is found to contain a small quantity of albu- 

 men, to have a specific gravity of 1030-40, may be strongly 

 alkaline and effervescent when treated with acids ; but as the 

 disease advances its specific gravity will fall to 1010-12, its re- 

 action becoming neutral or slightly acid. It sometimes con- 

 tains small numbers of red corpuscles, which may be derived 

 from small hremorrhages in the pelves of the kidneys, regularly 

 observed post mortem. 



The bowels are, as a rule, constipated during the high fever, 

 but as the fever subsides the fieces become softer and tinged 

 with bile. After a few days' illness the debility becomes very 

 great, and whilst the animal is standing, trembling of the hind 

 quarters and limbs are prominent features in many cases : the 

 blood is then found to have become very thin, pale, and watery, 

 due to the destruction of the red corpuscles. In the earlier 

 stages, if freshly drawer blood be allowed to stand, the serum 

 will be found to present a very dark red colour, indicating the 

 presence of much colouring matter in solution. Later on, this 

 colour may not be present, but thinness of the blood, owing to 

 destruction of the red corpuscles, seems to be the " most 

 essential character of Texas fever." 



The duration of the disease varies, proving fatal or disappear- 

 ing in a few days. Eecovery, however, is associated with great 

 debility ; degenerations may occur in organs, and frequently 

 there are relapses. Some animals never regain their health ; in 

 others, recovery takes place after weeks or months. High 

 temperature rarely lasts longer than eight to ten days ; it is 

 then followed by a period of normal or subnormal temperature, 



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