110 CLINICAL DIAGNOSTICS. 



Anatomy. The lymph vessels from the nostrils to the ethmoid 

 bone carry their lymph to the submaxillary glands, a small glan- 

 dular packet as broad as and a little longer than a finger, lying 

 on each side of the intermaxillary space. They begin at the point 

 where the inferior maxillary artery passes under the ramus of the 

 lower jaw, and extend forward to the angle of the chin where 

 each unites with its fellow of the opposite side. Each lobule is 

 of about the size of a small bean. In horses of coarse conforma- 

 tion the intermaxillary space is often filled without the glands 

 being swollen. 



As soon as an absorption of irritant or 

 infectious substances (bacteria] tai-ces 

 place in the region drained b }• the 1 }' m p h 

 vessels of the submaxillar}- glands, these 

 organs become secondarily diseased. The 

 primary disease usually has its seat in the mucous membrane 

 of the nasal passages or sinuses. An examination of the 

 glands, therefore, is of great significance in determining the 

 pathological condition of these mucous membranes. 



In making the examination the following points are to be 

 considered : 



a. Is one o r both g 1 a n d s e n 1 a r g e d ? In acute 

 infectious catarrhs the glandular swelling is generally bilat- 

 eral; in glanders frequently unilateral, and in tumors, in the 

 nasal passages, bad teeth and chronic catarrh of the sinuses, it 

 is, as a rule, unilateral. 



b. Size and form of the glandular s \v e 1 1 - 

 i n g . Many or a few of the lobules may be enlarged to the 

 size of a bean, pigeon or hen's tgg, depending upon the pri- 

 mary disease in the mucous membranes. Acute swellings are 

 smooth; chronic swellings lobulated (nodular), which is espe- 

 cially marked in glanders. 



Well marked, clearly defined, smooth enlargements of 

 individual lobules are observed in leucemia (a hyperplasia), 

 and when malignant tumors are developing in the glands. 



c. Consistency of the swollen glands. The 

 swelling is soft in serous, tense and firm in cellular infiltration 

 of the glands. Acute diffuse swellings (stran- 



