1932 ANNUAL REPORT, 1931 13 



ingestion of food and water. After vomiting, the condition of the animal may 

 seem to improve. Sometimes the animal greedily licks unpalatable, indigestible, 

 bitter, repulsive material, or it may accept only certain kinds of food. Such 

 animals soon appear dull, and manifest nervous disturbances. They may become 

 indifferent to their surroundings, are feeble, do not like to move and often lie 

 quietly in one place. The eyes become sunken and the fur appears dry and rough. 

 The post-mortem findings depend somewhat upon the severity of the 

 disease and the kind of toxin causing the disturbance and the length of time 

 the animal has been ill. In those cases where the animal has been ill only a 

 few hours, very few lesions may be apparent. The carcass may show considerable 

 fat and a good state of nutrition. In the more prolonged cases discernible, 

 pathological lesions are usually evident, and the carcass appears rather thin 

 and emaciated. On opening the abdominal cavity, the blood vessels appear 

 dark and prominent due to engorgement. The stomach may or may not contain 

 food. If the animal died within a very short time after eating, the entire meal 

 may be found in the stomach without apparently any digestive changes having 

 taken place, due to paralysis of the stomach walls. Likewise, the same action 

 takes place in the intestinal tract providing the poison has reached that part 

 of the body. 



Inflammatory Reactions. — The stomach mucosa may show very slight areas 

 of inflammation usually of a rose-coloured tint. On the other hand, the entire 

 mucosa may show severe inflammation, especially in the region of the pylorus. 

 (Inflammation of the stomach due to food poisoning must not be confused 

 with the natural pinkish tinge of the stomach mucosa caused by the filling of 

 the capillaries with blood which becomes quite marked during digestion.) The 

 stomach wall becomes greatly distended. This is usually an antemortem condition 

 due to certain organisms being present which produce gas. The organism on 

 gaining entrance to the stomach, finds a place where the temperature is ideal 

 for development. Gas formation takes place distending the stomach wall, causing 

 great pain to the animal, and death takes place very suddenly if the condition 

 is not relieved. In those cases where a small amount or no food is present in 

 the stomach, digestion has taken place to a greater or lesser extent before the 

 poison has exerted its action on the system. The stomach mucosa is likely to 

 be covered with a sticky, gelatinous exudate which has a debilitating affect on 

 the body organs and will also coat the food or be mixed with it to some extent. 

 In prolonged cases, lasting for some days, the stomach may be devoid of food 

 but may contain foreign material such as stones, dirt, chewed wood, leaves, 

 straw, etc. The stomach wall may show erosions in these cases. 



When the toxic substances reach the intestines, inflammation is set up. 

 Small areas, portions, or the entire length of the intestine may be involved. 

 As a rule the duodenum is the portion of the small intestine most frequently 

 aff^ected. Inflammation in the intestines caused from food poisoning assumes 

 colour characteristics similar to those of the stomach mucosa. The areas may 

 become so severely inflammed that it appears as a deep bloody, jelly-like mass, 

 and small hemorrhagic areas may be seen on the external wall of the intestine. In 

 some cases the intestinal wall may appear thickened, the mucosa having a white 

 soft velvety appearance; the substance responsible for this can be scraped from 

 the underlying tissue. 



The body organs become debilitated in consequence of the severe circulatory 

 disturbances, absorption of toxic, split products of bacterial endotoxins, and 

 of bacteria. The bacteria and toxic substances become absorbed, the epithelium 

 of the gastric and intestinal mucosa is greatly degenerated, the digestion is 

 arrested, and the inflammation extends into the submucosa which is well supplied 



