1 54 Specific and Contagious Diseases. 



soon become dark-coloured, or black, emitting an 

 offensive odour. Severe colic accompanies the changes 

 referred to, and great depression is evident, the pulse is 

 now running down, temperature declines rapidly, and the 

 animal dies in agony. When this is the case a portion 

 of the intestine may be observed, on post-mortem ex- 

 amination, to be firmly contracted, congested, and 

 probably infiltrated, as well as ulcerated. Some cases 

 do not proceed thus far, death arising from blood- 

 poisoning and coma. 



Ecze?na of a severe form is another serious compli- 

 cation. Innumerable pustules form over the body, or 

 perhaps only over the surface of the belly, some of which 

 are so small as to resemble the puncture by a pin ; 

 others are larger and well defined, while a third form 

 consists of a confluence or union of these which raise the 

 cuticle over a wide area as a large swelHng. The system 

 then suffers violently from pain, shock, and an enormous 

 drain, and from this period the patient becomes weaker, 

 and finally dies in the majority of cases. In milder 

 forms the pustules mature, burst and discharge their 

 contents, which proves the welfare of the system, but in 

 the severe states the poison is re-absorbed, to the great 

 detriment of the circulation. 



Treatment. — This is of two kinds, preventive and 

 remedial. With regard to the first, vaccination or 

 inoculation with the eye or nasal discharges, has been 

 set forth as all sufficient. Upwards of forty years ago we 

 had the privilege of assisting the late Professor Barlow, of 

 Edinburgh, in a great number of trials for the sole 

 purpose of testing the value and usefulness, if any, of the 

 operation. It is almost needless to state the results were 

 nil, and to the present day that experience has been 

 repeatedly verified. If, however, we regard the presence 

 of bacteria as the sole cause, the use of cultivated fluids 

 may solve the mystery. Let the sick be rigidly kept 

 apart from the healthy, observing all necessary rules of 

 sanitation, with a judicious employment of antiseptics of 

 known value, of which "Sanitas" preparations take 



