MAMMITIS OR MASTITIS 703 



extending along the abdomen and up the perinaeum. At first oedematous, 

 hot, and extremely painful, the swelling soon becomes emphysematous, 

 cold, and insensible ; the skin, which was previously intensely red, as- 

 sumes a violet, then a grey, leaden, or dark hue, and is cold and clammy 

 — vesicles containing a limpid or reddish serosity appearing on its sur- 

 face — the mammary gland can now be readily enucleated by making an 

 incision through the skin. 



The general symptoms become more grave ; the animal appears to be 

 completely exhausted, trembles continually, and the pulse becomes im- 

 perceptible ; at last the creature falls extended on the ground and dies — 

 sometimes within ten or twelve hours, rarely longer than a few days, after 

 the commencement of the attack. 



Death sometimes occurs in phlegmonous and interstitial suppuration. 

 Then the intense pain continues, or becomes still more excruciating ; the 

 animal is continually moaning, lying down and getting up again, as the 

 recumbent posture increases the agony, by making pressure on the mam- 

 mae ; the temperature is elevated ; attempts to milk, which* cause the ut- 

 most distress, only result in obtaining a few drops of reddish or semi- 

 purulent fluid from the teat. All food and drink is refused ; emaciation 

 sets in rapidly ; the animal is indifferent to every thing around it ; the 

 expression is haggard and anxious ; the conjunctivas are livid ; the res- 

 piration is quickened and often noisy ; the muffle is dry and sometimes 

 cracked ; the pulse is thready or imperceptible, and there are constant 

 tremblings ; the prostration is soon so extreme that the animal falls, per- 

 haps turns its head towards its shoulder, and dies without a struggle. 



Ewes are very liable to mammitis during the "yeaning " or lambing 

 period, and in very many instances it assumes an almost epizootic preva- 

 lence, and the fatal gangrenous form. This is more particularly observed 

 in large flocks, where gangrenous mastitis may be said to be the rule. Of 

 this there are many instances to be found in veterinary literature, and 

 particularly those given by Toggia, Yvart, D'Arboval, Roche-Lubin, and 

 others. That recorded by Yvart, as occurring in the Alfort flock in 

 1833, is interesting. YjdX.^\vci2iWX\. (^Zeitschrift fiir die p. Thierheilkunde von 

 Nebel afid Vix, 1836, p. 423) gives a very good description of the disease, 

 as he observed it. In the majority of cases, he saw only one-half of the 

 udder affected, and generally first around the teat, extending thence in 

 every direction. The seat of the inflammation was in the substance of 

 the udder — the gland parenchyma, the swelling being hard, and the skin 

 covering it light red ; the pain was very great. Before the inflammation 

 had reached its culminating point, a thin serous fluid {ftiilclnuasser) drop- 

 ped from the teat, and when the latter was squeezed, curdled milk, or 

 milk in firm clots, about the size of a pea, was obtained. The affected 

 Ewe kept apart from its companions, did not eat, looked very dull, head 

 and ears drooping, back arched, hind-limbs widely separated, and move- 

 ment difficult, the hind-leg towards the inflamed side of the udder being 

 most slowly and cautiously extended, as if lame ; when both mammae 

 were affected, the gait was markedly straddling, and the steps short. 

 When the lamb attempted to suck, the Ewe sank to the ground from pain, 

 and could not rise again without assistance. Sometimes in the evening 

 the quarter yielded good milk, and in the morning blood or reddish-col- 

 ored serum would be found dropping from the teat. In twenty-four hours 

 from the commencement of the disease, death not unfrequently ensued. 

 If, in the first twelve hours, the malady did not yield to antiphlogistic 



