340 DISEASES OF THE ARTICULATIONS 



purulent, and with it we may see purulent centres of abscesses, and 

 followed by pyteniia; or the development of the disease in several joints 

 at the same time, or developing one after the other at short intervals. 

 The writer saw metastatic suppuration of the joints of the knee, carjDus, 

 and toes. 



Rheumatic Inflammation of the Joints. 



(Rheumatic Arthritis.) 



Articular Rheumatism, Polyarthritis Rheumatica. 



This condition is evidently an infectious disease accompanied by 

 more or less fever, being rare in the dog, and indicated by a sero-fibrinous 

 synovitis of several of the articulations. 



Etiology. — The actual cause of the disease has not been separated 

 and described, some observers are inclined to think that it is not due to a 

 specific microorganism^ but that it is produced by a series of different 

 bacteria, particularly the streptococci and staphylococci, and these 

 produce a mild septic infection. If this theory is correct, then this 

 disease is closely related to these inflammations of the articulations 

 which occasionally follow infectious disease. It is caused by cold, es- 

 pecially in shooting clogs, if used in cold weather or during winter, 

 when they become very wet and lie around in a draught or from cutting 

 the hair off in cold weather and keeping animals in cold kennels. 



Clinical Symptoms and Course. — There are two forms of this disease: 

 an acute and a chronic form. The former appears suddenly, the animal 

 becoming very lame in one or more of the articulations in which there 

 appears a serous, but more rarely sero-purulent synovitis accompanied 

 by great pain, high fever, loss of appetite, great depression, and consti- 

 pation. The lameness is much greater than in any other form of joint- 

 irritation, Very often several joints become diseased at one time, or 

 the disease may go from one joint to another; if the joint is moved, or 

 the animal disturbed it causes great pain, sometimes agony; and while 

 any articulation in the l)ody may he attacked, the elbow and the carpal 

 articulations seem to be attacked most frequently, less so the ankle and 

 hip. Occasionally we find as complications of this disease, pericarditis, 

 pleuritis and peritonitis. 



When the disease takes a chronic form, either from the onset, or 

 merges into the chronic from the acute stage, it resembles very much 

 chronic sero-synovitis. There is gi'eat thickening of the capsule, and 

 sometimes the formation of adhesions between the surfaces of the joints 

 and the connective tissue, and in I'ure instances we may have ankylosis 

 of the joint. AVhile the diagnosis is rather difficult where the disease 

 is confined to one joint it is easily distinguished when you see it appear 



