752 



DISEASES AND ABNORMALITIES. 



A bull calf of the Algauer breed, which died on the third day after 

 birth, the second day of the disease. Weight 37*4 kilogrammes. The 

 remaining portion of the umbilical cord is perfectly dry. The hind parts 

 are somewhat soiled by fasces, the eyes are deep in their sockets ; there 

 is no meteorismus. Eight incisors are cut. There is a remarkable 

 and general bloodlessness observed, and this is more particularly noted 

 in the digestive organs, which look very white. (This anaemia was 

 present in all the cases to the highest degree : so much so, indeed, that 

 the tanner who bought the skins thought they were from calves which 

 had been slaughtered in the ordinary way, /. ^., bled to death — "white 

 veal.") The umbilical artery is, at the torn extremity, contracted, dark- 

 red in color, and retracted towards the pelvic opening ; it is distended 

 by a dark-red blood-clot, which extends as far as the aorta. The umbilical 

 vein is not inflamed, but contains a Quantity of dark, small blood-clots(these 

 were not always present) ; it had been torn through towards the outer half 

 of the navel-ring, so that both divisions were visible. The urachus is rup- 

 tured at the inner portion of the umbilical opening. Around the latter are 

 a number of generally small ecchymoses. The abdominal cavity is filled 

 with a dark fluid, which extends through the second and third compart- 

 ments of the stomach, as far as the fourth compartment. This fluid is 

 also found in the mouth and pharynx, as well as in the trachea ; though 

 none is observed in the lungs. In the true stomach is discovered a greater 

 quantity (about one and a half-litre) of curdled milk, in which were dirty- 

 white masses of casein ; this fluid has an acid reaction — making litmus 

 paper double-red : its normal condition. The mucous membrane of this 

 portion of the stomach is cedematous, of a dirty yellowish-red color, with 

 traces of post-mortem solution. In the third compartment are a number 

 of isolated ecchymoses about the size of a pin's head. The intestines are 

 quite empty, and their lining membrane is covered by a thin layer of puru- 

 lent-looking matter, which has a feeble alkaline reaction. Peyer's glands 

 are slightly swollen, somewhat injected, but otherwise normal. The 

 caecum is remarkably void of solid or fluid contents, and is full of gas. 

 The liver is very small, pale,cIay-colored, and bloodless ; the little gall-blad- 

 der is completely empty ; the spleen is normal. The lungs are speckled 

 red ; at some points the patches are reddish-brown ; the organs are perme- 

 able to air. The cavities in both sides of the heart are full of dark coagu- 

 lated blood, and beneath the epicardium are a number of small ecchymoses. 

 Otherwise the heart and its valves are very healthy. The dura mater of 

 the brain is strongly attached to the cranium. The sinuses are dark- 

 colored, and full of coagulated blood. The brain is remarkably anaemic ; 

 its lateral ventricles are distended by a clear serous fluid ; the rete mira- 

 bile at its base, and the neighboring membranes, are also distended by co- 

 agulated blood. 



Microscopic examination of the blood and the blood-clots in the heart, 

 umbilical vein and artery, proved that these were perfectly normal. The 

 red and white corpuscles in them were unaltered, and there were no 

 special organisms ; the color of the blood was not diminished. All those 

 appearances which are particularly noted in putrid diseases — as in puer- 

 peral fever, and particularly in septikasmia, were absent. The liver-cells 

 were certainly partly filled with fat granules, but there was otherwise no 

 indication of fatty degeneration. 



A very special feature of the disease was always found in the micro- 

 scopical examination of the contents of the true stomach and small intes- 



