DISEASES OF THE OX AND SHEEP. 537 



The pulse becomes softer, weaker, smaller, and more rapid, the 

 "breathing slower and less painful, the watery portions of the 

 blood accumulate within the cavity of the abdomen, there is less 

 pain, but the animal is really worse. The belly is fuller, the 

 mucous membranes are pale, the eye is sunken, and the animal 

 ■crouches with all four feet drawn close together. Finally, the 

 pulse becomes imperceptible, the temperature falls suddenly 

 from about 104^° F. to about 96° F., the animal falls down, and 

 -death ensues within about four and a half days from the first 

 appearance of signs of the disease. 



If an examination is made after death, as the walls of the abdo- 

 men are opened, a milky or sanguineous straw-coloured fluid 

 flows from the belly. The peritoneum, especially near the seat 

 of injury (if there has been one), is red, opaque, and hidden by 

 deposits of lymph which bind together the diflPerent abdominal 

 organs. 



In regard to treatment it should be the same as that for 

 enteritis. Cathartics must never be given. Opium is most 

 useful both as alleviating the pain and as checking the peristaltic 

 action of the intestines which brings on the pain. The abdomen 

 should be blistered. Enemas should be given every four hours 

 until the bowels are well opened, and if the animal becomes very 

 weak, nutrient enemas should also be given. Bleeding should 

 not be resorted to. 



Ascites or Dropsy of the Abdomen. 

 This term has been applied to the state of an animal in which 

 fluid is present in the abdominal cavity in consequence of 

 peritonitis. It is, however, more correct to apply it only to 

 cases in which such fluid is present quite independently of 

 inflammation of the peritoneum. This disease is the con- 

 sequence of general debility or of mechanical impediment to 

 the return of venous blood to the beart, occasioned perhaps 

 by diseases of that organ or by disease of the liver, and 

 also by the pressure of a tumour upon the vena portse. The 

 disease is not frequent in the adult, but often occurs in the 

 foetus, probably as a result of debility of the parent. The best 

 plan in some cases is to cut by the aid of the concealed knife 

 through the abdominal walls of the foetus, and so let the fluid 

 escape. 



