118 DISEASES OF CATTLE. 



always present, so that there is albuminuria with blood-coloring mat- 

 ter superadded. If from stone or gravel, gritty particles are usually 

 passed, and may be detected in the bottom of a dish in which the 

 liquid is caught. If from fracture or severe sprain of the loins, it 

 is liable to be associated not only with some loss of control of the 

 hind limbs and with staggering behind but also with a more or less 

 perfect paralysis of the tail. The bloodstained urine without red 

 globules results from specific diseases — Texas fever (PI. XL VII, 

 fig. 3), anthrax, spirillosis, and from eating irritant plants (broom, 

 savin, mercury, hellebore, ranunculus, convolvulus, colchicum, oak 

 shoots, ash privet, hazel, hornbeam, and other astringent, acrid, or 

 resinous plants, etc.). The Maybug or Spanish fly taken with the 

 feed or spread over a great extent of skin as a blister has a similar 

 action. Frosted turnips or other roots will bring on the affection in 

 some subjects. Among conditions which act by the direct destruc- 

 tion of the globules in the circulating blood may be named an excess 

 of water in that fluid; the use of water from soils rich in decom- 

 posing vegetable matter and containing alkaline salts, particularly 

 nitrites; and the presence in the water and feed of the ptomaines of 

 bacteria growth ; hence the prevalence of " red water " in marshy 

 districts and on clayey and other impervious soils, and the occurrence 

 of bloody urine in the advanced stages of several contagious diseases. 

 Some mineral poisons — such as iodin, arsenic, and phosphorus taken 

 to excess — ^may cause hematuria, and finally the symptoms may be 

 merely the result of a constitutional predisposition of the individual 

 or family to bleeding. In some predisposed subjects, exposure of 

 the body to cold or wet will cause the affection. 



The specific symptom of bloody or smolr^ water is a very patent 

 one. It may or may not be associated with fever, with the presence 

 or absence of abdominal tenderness on pressure, with a very frothy 

 state of the milk or even a reddish tinge, with or without marked 

 paleness of the mucous membranes, and general weakness. When 

 direct injury to the kidneys is the immediate cause of the disease the 

 urine Avill be passed often, in small quantity at a time, and with much 

 straining. When there is bloodlessness (a watery blood) from in- 

 sufficient nourishment, fever is absent and the red water is at first 

 the only symptom. When the active cause has been irritant plants, 

 abdominal tenderness, colics, and other signs of bowel inflammation 

 are marked features. 



Treatment. — Treatment varies according as the cause has been a 

 direct irritant operating on a subject in vigorous health or a micro- 

 bian poison acting on an animal deficient in blood and vigor. In the 

 first form of red water a smart purgative (1 pound to 1^ pounds 

 Glauber's salt) will clear away the irritants from> the bowels and 

 allav the coexistent hic-h fever. It will also serve to divert to the 



