148 . DISEASES OF CATTLE. 



frequently the cause of the evil than the alleged Spanish flies, though 

 these are hurtful enough when present. 



Inflammation of the kidneys may further be a form or an extension of 

 a specific contagious disease, such as erysipelas, rinderpest, septicaemia, 

 or even of poisoning by the spores of fungi. Rivolta reports the case of a 

 cow with spots of local congestion and blood staining in the kidney, the 

 affected parts being loaded with bacteria. Unfortunately he neither 

 cultivated the bacteria nor inoculated them, and thus the case stands 

 without positive demonstration that these were the cause of disease. 



The symptoms of nephritis are in certain cases very manifest, and in 

 others so hidden that the existence of the affection can only be cer- 

 tainly recognized by a microscopic examination of the urine. In violent 

 cases there is high fever, increase of the body temperature to 103 F. 

 and upward, hurried breathing with catching inspiration, accelerated 

 pulse, dry, hot muzzle, burning of the roots of the horns and ears, loss 

 of appetite, suspended rumination, and indications of extreme sensitive- 

 ness in the loins. The patient stands with back arched and hind legs 

 extended backward and outward, and passes water frequently, in drib- 

 lets, of a high color and specific gravity, containing albumen and micro- 

 scopic casts. (Plate xi, Fig. 5.) When moved the patient does so with 

 hesitation and groaning, especially if turned in a narrow circle; and 

 when pinched on the flank, just beneatli the lateral bony processes of 

 the loins, especially on that side on which the disease predominates, 

 it flinches and groans. If tlie examination is made with the oiled hand 

 introduced through the last gut (rectum) the pressure upward on the 

 kidneys gives rise to great pain and efforts to escape by moving away, 

 and by active contractions of the rectum for the expulsion of the hand. 

 Sometimes there is a distinct swelling over the loins or quarter on one 

 or both sides. In uncastrated males the testicle on the affected side is 

 drawn up, or is alternately raised and dropped. In all there is a lia- 

 bility to tremors of the thigh on the side affected. 



In some severe cases colicky pains are as violent as in the worst forms 

 of indigestion and spasms of the bowels. The animal frequently shifts 

 from one hind foot to the other, stamps, kicks at the belly, looks anx- 

 iously at its flank at frequent intervals, moans plaintively, lies down 

 and quickly gets up again, grinds its teeth, twists its tail, and keeps 

 the back habitually arched and rigid and the hind feet advanced under 

 the belly. The bowels may be costive and the feces glistening with a 

 coat of mucus, or they may be loose and irritable, and the paunch or 

 even the bowels may become distended with gas (bloating) as the result 

 of indigestion and fermentation. In some animals, male and female 

 alike, the rigid arched condition of the back will give way to such un- 

 dulating movements as are sometimes seen in the act of coition. 



The disease does not always appear in its full severity, but for a day 

 or even two there may be merely loss of appetite, impaired rumination, 

 a disposition to remain lying down; yet when the patient is raised, it 



