Dourine 759 



one to five or six at a time, remain a few days and disappear 

 without leaving a mark, to be succeeded by a new crop. It 

 is claimed that in these plaques the trypanosomes are very 

 abundant during the first stages of their existence, but as 

 the eruptions grow old the parasites rapidly disappear from 

 them. 



It has been stated that the plaques may cause intense itch- 

 ing and lead the animal to bite or rub the part and that they 

 sometimes suppurate. I have observed none of these 

 symptoms. 



It is not uncommon to observe in the later stages of the dis- 

 ease a more or less profuse discharge from the nostrils. 

 This nasal discharge may in some cases be suggestive of 

 glanders and superficial ulceration of the mucous mem- 

 brane may rarely be present. The erosions, when present, 

 have no specific character and suggest rather a necrosis of 

 a greatly debilitated tissue as the result of an irritant ap- 

 plied externally. It must not be forgotten that glanders 

 and dourine may coexist and that the latter would, naturally 

 greatly intensify the former. 



The general debility or cachexia of the disease shows it- 

 self clearly in lesions of the skin. Wounds heal tardily. 

 If the animal is so weak that it is recumbent a large part 

 of the time, it suffers from extensive decubitis gangrene. 



The symptoms, which are largely referable to the nervous 

 system, appear at about the same time as the plaques. The 

 first and most pronounced of this group is usually a pro- 

 gressive paresis, which is chiefly observable in the hind parts. 

 At first there is an unsteady gait. The animal brings the 

 hind feet forward in a difficult and somewhat uncertain 

 manner. There is a tendency to drag the toe along the 

 ground or to strike it at the middle of the stride. When 

 weight is placed upon the foot the toe is usually brought 

 down first, with the fetlock flexed, and the heel is then 

 lowered suddenly. While standing, there is a tendency for 

 the fetlocks to be maintained in a flexed position or some- 

 what knuckled over. This knuckling over, whether stand- 

 ing or during progression, is a rather common symptom in 

 trypanosomic, if not protozoan diseases generally. 



