RED WATER, 465 



are also expressive of a mal-condition of the blood, aud charac- 

 teristic of the anaemic state. 



The post mortem appearances indicate a condition of anaemia. 

 The subcutaneous tissues are white ; the blood-vessels and 

 cavities of the heart are empty, leading one to suppose that the 

 animal had been bled to death ; ecchymoses are seen on the serous 

 membranes, and on the lower surfaces of the kidneys ; the uterus 

 in the parturient form contains some dirty coloured mucus, and 

 sometimes presents spots of so-called inflammation. In no 

 case are there indications of nephritis, the kidneys, on the 

 contrary, being blanched, and the uriniferous tubes enlarged, 

 evidently dilated with a viscid fluid. The rectum generally con- 

 tains fteces covered with a dark-coloured mucus ; in nearly all 

 cases the liver is darker than is natural ; the gall bladder dis- 

 tended sometimes with a dark viscid, sometimes a thin yellow bile. 

 The contents of the lacteals and thoracic duct are occasionally 

 found to be of a dark red or brown colour ; but the most con- 

 stant pathological conditions, in addition to the anaemia, are 

 softening and engorgement of the liver, and fulness of the gall 

 bladder. 



Semiology. — In the parturient form, the disease is developed 

 in from eight to fourteen days after parturition, with general 

 derangement, diarrhoea, and loss of milk. In all cases, when 

 examined particularly, the pulse indicates considerable constitu- 

 tional disturbance, being 80, 90, 100, or upwards, having a pecu- 

 liarly full beat, thrilling or double ; the artery relaxed, and easily 

 yields to the onward wave of blood ; the back is arched, and in 

 some cases there is considerable straining. Constipation suc- 

 ceeds the diarrhoea, and the fieces passed are dark in colour. Pal- 

 pitation of the heart is apt to occur, whilst the pulse becomes 

 feebler and feebler. Mr. Steel of Biggar says that the vagina 

 has, in the parturient form, a contracted or puckered-up appear- 

 ance ; that the milk drav;n from the cow prior to the attack 

 is particularly disposed to froth in the pail, and sometimes has 

 a red sediment at the bottom after standing. 



Trecdment. — The preventive treatment. — Seeing that the dis- 

 ease is one arising from insufficient nourishment — " a disease of 

 the poor man's cow," as expressed by one writer — is a simple 

 matter. About the parturient period, great care is to be taken 

 t^hat the animal's food be of a proper quality, in proper propor- 



2 H 



