DISEASES OF THE OX AND SHEEP. 257 



this case the animal may recover. The flesh is not fit for human 

 food. It is of a deep red hue, gives off an unpleasant odour, and 

 soon putrefies. 



It is a most important fact that the spores of the bacilli of 

 this disease, if heated to 85° C. for six hours, lose their virulence. 

 Hence the danger of consuming the flesh would in this case, as 

 in others, be very greatly lessened by thorough and effectual 

 cooking, which, indeed, should always be insisted upon by those 

 who wish to avoid parasites and other evils, liable, or rather almost 

 sure, to be sooner or later the results of eating under-done meat. 

 If the swollen parts are cut into, they are seen to be infiltrated 

 with a blackish red semi-solid eff'usion. 



After death the carcase is seen to be emphysematous all over, 

 the belly is greatly distended, the body is only slightly rigid, and 

 a discharge of blood-stained froth flows out of the mouth and 

 nostrils. When the skin is removed, the cutaneous vessels are 

 seen to be turgid with blood, and over the part affected or over 

 the loins, as well as over the shoulder or thigh, the areolar 

 tissue under the skin is found, as said above, to be infiltrated 

 with dark- coloured blood, and distended with air. If the tissues 

 are cut, they are seen to be matted together by a black exuda- 

 tion, and they are gangrenous. Blood which does not exhibit 

 any disposition to coagulate is in protracted cases found lying 

 between the long muscles of the back. The serous membranes 

 are covered with ecchymoses. The lungs are usually congested. 

 Other parts of the body, such as the liver, kidneys, the mucous 

 membrane of the alimentary canal, and the cerebro-spinal cavity, 

 may be found to be infiltrated with blood. In very rapid cases, 

 or when animals are slaughtered in the early stage of the disease, 

 it is only one of the fore or hind quarters which indicates the 

 existence of the malady. 



In certain localities, as we have above pointed out, black-leg 

 breaks out from time to time. Hence, the first step which is 

 necessary is to have the fields or areas in which the malady 

 breaks out thoroughly drained. In short, the hygienic condi- 

 tions in such places should be thoroughly investigated, and, if 

 any fault is detected, it should be carefully set right. For 

 instance, the water should be searchingly examined. These 

 remarks apply as much to oxen kept in cow-sheds as to those 

 which are out at pasture. When the disease breaks out in a 



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