DISEASES OP THE OX AND SHEEP. 835 



but are generally confined. In considering the symptoms of 

 scarlet-fever in man one should not forget to bear in mind that the 

 very mildest cases may almost be said to be without symptoms. 



From the fourth to the sixth day of the disease the rash begins 

 to fade, and it disappears between the sixth and the twelfth day 

 of the disease, or between the fifth and tenth day from the 

 appearance of the rash. From about the fourth to the sixth 

 day it frequently happens that the patient, if progressing un- 

 favourably, passes into a typhoid condition, or serious throat 

 complications may ensue. The tonsils may ulcerate from 

 almost the outset of the disease, or slough, or perhaps the 

 urine may become albuminous. It seems to be quite exceptional 

 for dropsy or uraemia to occur at this time. On the other hand, 

 if the case be going on favourably, all the symptoms at about 

 this time gradually subside. The temperature, with slight 

 daily remissions, ere long becomes normal, or even below the 

 normal standard. The pulse, too, rapidly sinks to its healthy 

 rate or slightly below it, the soreness of the throat subsides, 

 the tongue becomes clean and moist, the thirst abates, and the 

 desire for food is regained. 



Desquamation commences when the rash is fading. It begins, 

 as a rule, on the neck and chest, whence it spreads to the rest 

 of the trunk and limbs. The desquamating epidermis may be 

 in the form of a fine powder, or it may be in flakes of very 

 variable size. That from the hands and feet may indeed be in 

 the form of a glove. The size of the flakes when they are shed 

 from parts whereon the epidermis is thick, is larger in proportion 

 to the thickness. Hence the flakes are small and delicate on 

 the chest and abdomen, but large on the limbs. Sometimes a 

 transverse fissure at the root of the nails shows that desquama- 

 tion is also indicated in the nails, or that the growth of the 

 nail has been interrupted. The period of desquamation varies 

 in duration from a few days to several weeks. It almost always 

 occupies at least two weeks, and generally from four to eight 

 weeks. It is to be remembered that it is chiefly during this 

 period that albaminuria with dropsy and uraemia may supervene. 

 It may also be observed that rheumatism is liable to come on 

 shortly after desquamation has commenced. Moreover, there is 

 good reason to believe that the particles of skin which are 

 thrown off in desquamation are highly infectious. 



