298 DISEASES OF CATTLE. 



of locomotion than any other, though the heart and other internal 

 organs are occasionally involved as a secondary result. Primarily it 

 appears as an inflammation of joints, ligaments, tendons, or the covering 

 of muscles. It is due to a specific condition of the blood in which cer- 

 tain irritant properties are developed and lodged and in the fibrous tis- 

 sues of the structures named. 



There is some dispute as to what the true nature of the irritant prop- 

 erty peculiar to this disease really is. The acid condition of the urine 

 lias led to the supposition that it is possibly due to lactic acid. In the 

 herbivora the acid found is hippuric. As it is .likely to be caused by 

 impaired action of the skin, there is reason to suppose that it is due to 

 the presence in the system of some of the natural constituents of per- 

 spiration, either in excessive quantity or in perverted condition. 



It generally appears as a sudden lameness, with noticeable swelling 

 around some of the joints of the affected limb, though it is quite likely 

 that the swelling will not bear any proportionate relation to the amount 

 of pain evinced. 



The disease may be confined to one limb, or more than one may be 

 affected. It may appear simultaneously in different parts of the body, 

 or after involving one or more parts suddenly disappear and reappear 

 in another place, which may be remote from or near to the part first 

 affected, which, if the disease is not arrested, is likely to suffer from sub- 

 sequent attacks. The local symptoms are always accompanied with 

 constitutional disturbance of a feverish nature, which usually precedes 

 the appearence of the more painful symptoms. The temperature is 

 likely to run up from 104 F. to 108 F. In an acute attack the mouth 

 will be found hot and dry, the pulse hard, the secretion of urine lessened, 

 the urine acid in its character and charged with impurities. The bowels 

 are less active, and there is frequently a marked disposition to lie down 

 continuously. 



A chronic type of the disease, which may supervene on the acute or 

 occur independently, is characterized by the symptoms already men- 

 tioned, except that the constitutional disturbance is not likely to be 

 present, or, if so, not so marked, nor do the acute local conditions show 

 the same tendency to shift from one part to another. 



This inclination to remain fixed in one place has a tendency to bring 

 about structural derangement and permanent injury to the parts in- 

 volved in the shape of thickening and enlargement of the soft struc- 

 tures, or in extreme cases in the formation of bony tumors and the 

 obliteration of a joint. 



Treatment. At the outset a purgative dose of Epsom salts should be 

 given, which may be from 1 to 1| pounds for an ordinary- sized cow. If 

 the pain is very acute it may be relieved by occasional doses of lauda- 

 num or opium, not more than an ounce of the former or a dram of the 

 latter, three times a day. When the opium is used care must be taken 

 to keep the bowels acting regularly. For this purpose it may be ncces- 



