122 DISEASES OF CATTLE. 



falls on slippery ground, under sudden unexpected drooping or 

 twisting of the loins from missteps or from the feet sinking into 

 holes, under the loading and jarring of the loins when animals ride 

 one another in cases of " heat," the kidneys are subject to injury and 

 inflammation. A hard run, as when chased by a dog, may be the 

 occasion of such an attack. A fodder rich in nitrogenous or flesh- 

 forming elements (beans, peas, vetches (Vida satlva), and other 

 leguminous plants) has been charged with irritating the kidneys 

 through the excess of urea, hippuric acid, and allied products elimi- 

 nated through these organs and the tendency to the formation of 

 gravel. It seems, however, that these feeds are most dangerous when 

 partially ripened and yet not fully matured, a stage of growth at 

 which they are liable to contain ingredients irritating to the stomach 

 and poisonous to the brain, as seen in their inducing so-called " stom- 

 ach staggers." Even in the poisoning by the seeds of ripened 

 but only partially cured rye grass (Loliu7/i perenne), and darnel 

 {Lolium temMlentum) ^ the kidneys are found violently congested 

 with black blood ; also, in the indigestions that result from the eating 

 of partially ripened corn or millet some congestion of the kidneys 

 is an attendant phenomenon. 



Cruzel says that the disease as occurring locally is usually not 

 alone from the acrid and resinous plants charged with inducing 

 hematuria, but also from stinking camomile {Antherrds cotula) and 

 field poppy when used in the fresh, succulent condition ; also from the 

 great prevalence of dead caterpillars on the pasture, or from dead 

 Spanish flies in the stagnant pools of water. The fresh plants are 

 believed to be injurious only by reason of a volatile oil which is dis- 

 sipated in drying. In the case of the stagnant water it may be ques- 

 tioned whether the chemical products of the contained ferments 

 (bacteria) are not more frequently the cause of the evil than the 

 alleged Spanish flies, though the latter are hurtful enough when 

 present. 



Inflammation of the kidneys may further be a form or an exten- 

 sion of a sjjecific contagious disease, such as erysipelas, rinderpest, 

 septicemia, 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 bac- 

 teria. Unfortunately he neither cultivated the bacteria nor inocu- 

 lated them, and thus the case stands without positive demonstration 

 that they were the cause of disease. 



In certain cases the symptoms of nephritis are very manifest, and 

 in others so hidden that the existence of the affection can be certainly 

 recognized only by a microscopic examination of the urine. In vio- 

 lent cases there is high fever, increase of the body temperature to 

 103° F. and upward; hurried breathing, with a catching inspiration; 



