406 DISEASES OP CATTIjE. 



every other hypothesis as to its genesis seems untenable. The disease 

 seems to occur most frequently in swampy or mucky localities or in 

 pastures receiving the overflow from infected fields. It is said to 

 occur usually in the spring of the year, when the melting snows and 

 rains bring to the surface the subterranean waters from rich soils 

 containing nitrogenous materials in which the bacteria have been 

 existing. In a great many instances there does not seem to be any 

 plausible explanation for an outbreak of the disease and one can only 

 surmise as to its origin. 



Sympioms. — Three forms of the disease are recognized, based upon 

 the distribution of the lesions — the superficial, or cutaneous, the pec- 

 toral, or thoracic, and the intestinal form. The latter is a usual 

 accompaniment of the other two and may be mild or severe. Natu- 

 rally the symptoms vary according to the violence of the attack and 

 to the particular form of disease with which the animal is affected. 

 In the superficial, or cutaneous, form the presence of a swollen tongue, 

 throat, and dewlap, or even of the lower portion of the legs, gives us 

 a clew to the trouble. An entire loss of appetite occurs, and in milch 

 cows there is a diminution of the milk secretion. The temperature 

 may be only slightly elevated, but it is usually very high. Salivation 

 is set up due to the inflammation of the mouth and pharynx. Unsuc- 

 cessful efforts at eating and swallowing are made. There may be 

 difficulty in breathing, depending on the amount of involvement of 

 the larynx, trachea, bronchi, or lungs. There may be a blood-stained 

 discharge from the nostrils, and the mucous membrane of the same 

 will often show punctiform hemorrhages. The pulmonary form 

 shows the same symptoms as croupous pneumonia, with a frequent 

 suffocative cough and oppressed breathing, or dyspnea. When the 

 intestines are involved the patient strains to defecate, and passes 

 shreds of intestinal mucus along with blood-stained feces. The urine 

 may also be tinged with blood. Finally a severe diarrhea takes place, 

 the animal becomes correspondingly weak, and death takes place in 

 24 to 36 hours. Cases may die in as short a period as six to eight 

 hours, while in the pectoral form of the disease the animal may 

 linger six or eight days. Cases have been reported which became 

 chronic and in which death did not take place for a month or more. 

 In some of the cases running an acute course, symptoms of toxemia 

 are present ; there is a lack of sensation of the skin, staggering gait, 

 trembling, eyes fixed, neck at times bent to one side, and the eyes 

 showing a wild expression. At times the animals appear as if in 

 pain and look around at the flanks. In the pectoral form they may 

 stand with the fore legs wide apart in evident effort to breathe more 

 freely. Sometimes there is a champing of the jaws and a very free 

 flow of glairy saliva dropping from the mouth. 



