DISEASES FOLLOWING PARTURITION. 249 



pupils dilated ; the weakness increases aud the cow lies down or falls 

 and is thenceforward unable to rise. At this time the pulse is usually 

 full and bounding and the temperature raised ; the head, horns, and ears 

 being especially hot and the veins of the head full, while the visible 

 mucous membranes of nose and eyes are deeply congested. The cow 

 may lie on her breastbone with her feet beneath the body and her head 

 turned sleepily round, with the nose resting on the right flank ; or, if 

 worse, she may be stretched full on her side, with even the head, 

 extended, though at times it is suddenly raised and again dashed back 

 on the ground. At such times the legs, fore and hind, struggle con- 

 vulsively, evidently through unconscious nervous spasm. By this time 

 the unconsciousness is usually complete; the eyes are glazed, their 

 pupils widely dilated, and their lids are not moved when the ball of the 

 eye is touched with the finger. Pricking the skin with a pin also fails 

 to bring any wincing or other response. The pulse, at first from 50 to 

 70 per minute, becomes more accelerated and weaker as the disease 

 advances. The breathing is quickened, becoming more and more so 

 with the violence of the symptoms, and at first associated with moan- 

 ing (in exceptional cases bellowing), it may, before death, become slow, 

 deep, sighing, or rattling (stertorous). The temperature, at first usu- 

 ally raised, tends to become lower as stupor and utter insensibility and 

 coma supervene. The bowels, which may have moved at the onset of 

 the attack, become torpid or completely paralyzed, and, unless in case of 

 improvement, they are not likely to operate again. Yet this is the result 

 of paralysis and not of induration of the feces, as often shown by the 

 semiliquid ptiltaceous condition of the contents after death. The blad- 

 der, too, is paralyzed and fails to expel its contents. A free action of 

 either bladder or bowels or of both is always a favorable symptom. 

 The milk secretion may fail, yet often the udder continues to yield its 

 product for a considerable time, and to draw off this and encourage free 

 secretion by rubbing is always indicated. 



In nearly all cases the torpor of the digestive organs results in gas- 

 tric disorder; the paunch becomes the seat of fermentation, producing 

 gas which causes it to bloat up like a drum. There arc frequent eruc- 

 tations of gas and liquid and solid food, which, reaching the paralyzed 

 throat, puss in part into the windpipe and cause inilninmations of the 

 air passages and lungs. 



In the torpid form of the disease there is much less indication of 

 fever or violence. There may be no special heat about the horns, cars, 

 or forehead, nor any marked redness or congestion of the eyes or nose, 

 nor engorgement of the veins of the head. The attack comes on more 

 slowly, with apparent weakness of the hind limbs, dullness, drowsiness, 

 suspension of rumination and appetite, and a general indifference to 

 Hurroundinj;- objects. Soon the cow lies down, or falls and is unable to 

 rise, but for one or two days she may rest on the breastbone and hold 

 the head in the ilank without showing any disorderly movements. 



