134 THE DISEASES OF DOMESTIC AXIMALS. 



I would classify the disease as follows : 



1. Stadium ineubationis. 



2. Stadium accrementi. 



3. Stadium decrementi. 



4. Stadium lethalis ; although I do not see the necessity of a 

 f oui-th stage, as it is always but the final determination of the disease. 



1. Stadium incubationis. The period of exact latency or incuba- 

 tion has not been accurately determined ; it is not so well marked 

 as in many other infectious diseases, but may be said to be from 

 thirty to forty days. 



2. Stadium accrementi. The period of active infection — i.e., the 

 progressive stage of the disease — is first indicated by a rise in tem- 

 perature. The temperature varies from 102° to 107"8° Fahr. This 

 period extends to from four to seven days, and should also include 

 the haemorrhagic stage of Gamgee, which, according to him, lasts 

 from two to six days longer. 



3. The stadium decrementi is of indefinite length, but begins 

 with the cessation of the progressive or active symptoms. 



Intravital Phenomena. 



The ears of the animal droop, its movements become sluggish, 

 and the secretions retarded, especially in milch-cows. The appetite 

 at first continues as well as rumination ; a disposition to lie down 

 soon makes itself apparent, and, wherever pools exist, the sick ani- 

 mals apparently seek them out to lie in. 



Some observers assert that a cough appears early in the disease, 

 but this does not accord with Mr. Gamgee's experience. Depression 

 of the head, drooping ears, arched back, hollow flanks, with a tend- 

 ency to draw the hind-legs under the body, and knuckling over 

 in the hind fetlocks, are early and very marked phenomena. The 

 skin appears dry and attached ; the faeces are not materially affected, 

 but in some cases clots of blood are attached to them. The urine is 

 at first clear. Many cases do not attract notice until the animals are 

 sufifering from hiematuria, but the urine retains its natural color in 

 some ten to fifteen per cent of the cases. 



The visible mucosae are somewhat anaemic, but a hyperaemic 

 condition may sometimes be observed, accompanied with a viscid 

 discharge ; the mucosa of the rectum is frequently congested. 



The pulse is frequent ; in the early stages hard and thin ; it 

 gradually becomes more feeble, and in the later stages, as death ap- 

 proaches, it is impossible to feel it. It varies from sixty to one hun- 

 dred and twenty beats in frequency. 



