CHAPTER VIII. 



MISCELLANEOUS DISEASES. 



PURPURA HEMORRHAGICA — PURPURA — PETECHIAL FEVER. 



(Plate XIV. i 



This is an acute, infectious disease, the cause of which is as yet 

 little known. Sometimes it is primary; in other instances it follows 

 other infectious diseases, strangles, pharyngitis, contagious pneu- 

 monia, influenza, etc. 



Symptoms. — Petechial fever is generally manifested by the appear- 

 ance upon the mucous membranes of numerous dark-red petechia 

 (reddish spots); sometimes they are insignificant as a flea bite, then 

 again they may attain the size of a pea or an acorn; they often 

 become joined and form spots or bands of variable length. In 

 serious cases the nasal mucous membrane becomes affected by 

 gangrene (death of the affected spot) or covered over with ulcera- 

 tions. The discharge is blood}^ and of bad aspect, breathing is very 

 laborious, and the expired air has a fetid odor. The general condi- 

 tion sometimes becomes very rapidly aggravated; then, in the 

 majority of cases, the disease ends in death. 



Corresponding with the appearance of the reddish spots, or a few 

 days later, swellings appear beneath the skin; this symptom, which 

 is the 'most prominent, is often the first symptom noticed. The 

 swellings will range in size from a ten-cent piece to a silver dollar; 

 they are usually upon dependent regions, such as the head, extremi- 

 ties, abdomen, sheath, and chest. These swellings are not hot, and 

 only slightly sensitive: they gradually extend until they grow 

 together, and we have in a few hours the swelling up of the legs and 

 belly, or the head, to an enormous size; they have always a charac- 

 teristic constricted border, which looks as if it had been tied with a 

 cord. The swelling stands out abruptly at this border, often as much 

 as an inch. 



The swelling in the legs will cause stillness. The head may be 

 swollen to such a size that it resembles the head of a hippopotamus 

 rather than that of a horse; the caliber of the nostril may be so less- 

 ened as to cause the horse to breathe with difficulty. The pulse, if 

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