Parturient Paresis in the Cow 923 



does so with a more or less unsteady gait. She seems especially 

 weak and uncertain in her hind limbs, and sways somewhat from 

 side to side or knuckles over. She may show considerable un- 

 easiness and nervousness, and lie down, only to get up again in 

 a few minutes, and perhaps with some difficulty. 



As the disease progresses the animal goes down and is unable 

 to rise. At first she lies upon her sternum, usually upon the 

 left side, in a somewhat natural attitude, with the head up. 

 Later she shows a tendency to rest the muzzle on the ground or 

 the head in the right flank with the nose lying upon the ground. 

 Still later she tends to lie prone upon the side. 



Early in the disease coma sets in, and the animal becomes 

 more or less insensiBl¥.' 'Convulsive struggles occur for a time, 

 in which the patient throws herself about violently ; she may 

 make unsuccessful and unconscious efforts to arise, and may suc- 

 ceed in getting upon her knees and floundering about violently. 

 She may throw the head from side to side with great violence, 

 and in doing so may shift from sternal to lateral recumbency, 

 and from time to time may resume sternal decubitis. As the 

 disease advances, there is a constantly increasing tendency to lie 

 flat upon the side. 



At first the pupils are dilated and the eyes have a wild and 

 glaring look, but later they become dry and glassy-looking, 

 probably because the eyelids are not closed frequently in order 

 to distribute the tears over the cornea, and thus fail to keep it 

 moist. An abundance of tears may flow down over the cheeks 

 and keep them wet. 



From the mouth there is an involuntary flow of saliva, due 

 rather to failure of the animal to swallow it than to any increase 

 in the amount secreted. 



The temperature is sub-normal. Rarely in the earlier stages 

 of the disease, accompanied by more or less violent muscular 

 twitchings, there may be elevation of temperature. Later, when 

 the disease has existed for some hours and there has been partial 

 improvement, and a relapse occurs, not of paresis, but of inhala- 

 tion pneumonia or other inflammatory complication, the tempera- 

 ture may become elevated. The respiration is deep and slow as 

 a general rule, though in some cases it may be rapid and shallow. 

 There is sometimes a moan during expiration. 



The disturbances in the alimentary tract consist essentially of 



