DISEASES OF THE RESPIRATORY ORGANS. 



PHYSICAL EXAMINATION OF THE RESPIRATORY APPARATUS. 



In making an examination of the respiratory apparatus the following 

 points are to be considered: 



Examination of the Nose. 



It is a rather hard thing to make an examination of the nose, on ac- 

 count of the anatomical conformation of that part, and we are practically 

 restricted to the aid a nasal mirror can give us and the character of the 

 nasal secretions. The external portion of the nose is moist and cold in 

 health, colder than any other part of the body, and dry and w^arm when 

 a dog has any fever or elevation of temperature, in the first stages of nasal 

 catarrh, and in fevers or acute disease. This should not be taken as a 

 positive evidence, as frecjuently cases are seen where this is no guide, the 

 nose being cold when there is great fever or the animal in a state of 

 collapse. 



Swelling, redness, and excoriation at the entrance of the nasal cham- 

 bers indicate an inflammatory and purulent condition of the nasal mucous 

 membrane. 



Any discharge from the nose, beyond a natural moistness, indicates 

 some diseased condition. In cases of acute nasal catarrh it is clear and 

 thin, nearly pure serum in the beginning, but later on it becomes mucous 

 and finally muco-purulent. In chronic catarrh it is firmer, sticky, and 

 finally very tenacious, and sticks to the external opening of the nose, 

 often entirely closing it up and eroding the skin, where it comes in contact 

 with it. In distemper it is yellowish to yellowish-green in color; some- 

 times it is streaked with blood or pus, and in rare cases it has a foetid odor. 



When the discharge is copious, especially when the head is jerked 

 downward with a sneezing cough, it is generally a sign of some irritation of 

 the frontal sinuses. A nasal discharge following coughing generally comes 

 from some trouble in the deep sections of the air-passages, larynx, wind- 

 pipe, bronchi, or the lungs; a rusty yellow discharge indicates croupous 

 pneumonia; this is, however, very rare. Frequent sneezing, with a 

 copious, purulent, bad-smelling discharge mixed with blood points to the 

 presence of pentastoma taenioides in the frontal or nasal cavities. In cases 

 of acute catarrh of the throat, foreign bodies, paralysis of the larynx, or 



115 



