368 THE DISEASES AND DISORDERS OF THE OX. 



the malady. In damp, low-lying districts the disease is more 

 commonly met with than in more elevated spots, and in variable 

 climates it is especially prevalent. 



Some observers have supposed that rheumatism is the result 

 of infection by some germ. In man there is no doubt that 

 rheumatism may manifest itself in a considerable number of 

 ways, as Dr. Cheadle has lately shown ; for instance, as Peri- 

 carditis, Myocarditis, or Endocarditis, as Chorea, and as new 

 formations, the histological elements of which are those of the 

 granulomata, i.e. small nuclear bodies in the meshes of a 

 delicate network formed by stellate cells. Whether these new 

 formations are to be found in animals or not has not yet been 

 determined, nor has the question been more than entertained as 

 to whether these nodules contain micro-organisms. It is quite 

 possible that minute and searching investigation may lead to 

 the discovery that such is the case. 



Some of our readers, no doubt, are pretty well acquainted 

 with the usual symptoms of rheumatic affections in the cow. 

 They are as a rule sufficiently manifest even to a casual observer. 

 The only thing which is sometimes apt to deceive one is the 

 apparent insignificance of the symptoms in some badly marked 

 cases compared with the gravity and length of time the inflam- 

 matory action may last before subsiding. In the acute variety 

 the suffering animal generally first manifests irritability and 

 uneasiness. The appetite is diminished or fails altogether, and 

 rumination, or chewing the cud, may be suspended. The skin is 

 harsh, and the mouth is dry and parched. Other symptoms of 

 the febrile disturbance are acceleration of the pulse, which may 

 reach as high as 80° to 100° ; constipation, which is very general, 

 and rise of temperature. In an ordinary case the thermometer 

 reaches about 103° to 104° F., and when it exceeds this, the 

 attack is of a severe character. It not uncommonly reaches 

 105° F., and we have known it as high as 106° and 107°. The 

 water passed, which in healthy herbivorous animals is alkaline, 

 becomes acid. 



The first factor which generally leads one to diagnose the case 

 as one of rheumatism is the occurrence of painful swelling of 

 some joint or joints, more commonly the knee or hock, or the 

 two hocks, or two knees, or one hock and one knee affected 

 simultaneously. The animal manifests lameness in proportion 



