DISEASES OP THE OX AND SHEEP. 515 



nor by any marked febrile signs. Of course, if symptoms of 

 fever are manifested, it will be necessary to search closely into 

 the case, and from minute observatioo we shall probably find 

 that we have a more complicated disorder to deal with than 

 simple diarrhoea. For instance, the name of dysentery is given, 

 when the large intestines are inflamed and febrile symptoms are 

 manifested, and when there is also a discharge of mucus. 

 Diarrhoea may, however, be due to some irritation caused by 

 maldigestion, or to some noxious substance taken into the 

 stomach. 



The more or less violent expulsion of rather fluid fecal mate- 

 rial, sometimes of a very fetid odour, is met with as a symptom 

 manifested with greater or less constancy in the case of very 

 many different diseases. Of these we may just recall to mind : 

 — Purpura hsemorrhagica, malignant catarrh, epizootic pleuro- 

 pneumonfa, cattle-plague, anthrax, and many others. No doubt 

 this diarrhoea is conservative, inasmuch as some of the virus is 

 in this way eliminated from the system. 



In the case of tuberculosis, diarrhoea comes on when the 

 mucous membrane of the intestines or the mesenteric glands are 

 affected, and the disorder may be due to other abnormal condi- 

 tions of the intestinal walls, the lining membrane of which, after 

 death from severe diarrhoea, may frequently be seen to be con- 

 gested. An animal suffering from this disorder may be also 

 afflicted with severe pain. As for the appetite, it is either 

 diminished or depraved, while the chewing of the cud is irregular 

 and imperfect, and the urine scanty in amount. Moreover, the 

 animal may stand apart from the rest of the herd with an anxious 

 expression depicted on its face, the feet drawn close together, 

 and the back being arched. 



The symptoms of diarrhoea are well known. Together with 



, the copious discharge of more or less fluid excrementitious 



material, there is a disengagement of flatus, much straining, and 



\ the ears, horns, and feet, are cold. If the disease is due to the 



increased activity of the liver, whereby a large quantity of bile 



is discharged into the small intestine, the feces are dark brown 



in colour, watery, and profuse ; if to milk of bad quality or an 



ingestion of too large a quantity, as sometimes happens in the 



case of calves, the discharges are light-coloured ; if to blood 



I diseases, they are often black and fetid, if to disorder of the 



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