482 



Tlie altercdwns in an inflamed tissue are first those of congestion, 

 distension of tlie blood vessels, and exudation of the fluid of the blood 

 into the surrounding fibers, with, however, a iuore complete stagna- 

 tion of the blood; fibrin or lymph, a glue-like substance, is thrown 

 out as well, and the cells, which we have seen to be living organ- 

 isms in themselves, no longer carried in the current of the blood, 

 migrate from the vessels and finding proper nutriment proliferate or 

 multiply with greater or less rapidity. The cells which lie dormant 

 in tlie meshes of the surrounding fibers are awakened into activity 

 by the nutritious lymph Avhich surrounds them and they also multiply. 

 Whether the cell in an inflamed part is the white amoeboid cell of 

 the blood or the fixed connective tissue cell embedded in the fibei-s, 

 it multiplies in the same way. The germ in the center (nucleus) is 

 divided into two, and then each again into two ad infinitum. If the 

 process is slow, each new cell may assimilate nourishment and become, 

 like its ancestor, an aid in the formation of new tissues; if, however, 

 the changing takes place rapidly the brood of young cells have not 

 time to grow or use up the surrounding nourishment, and but half- 

 developed they die, and we then have destruction of tissue, and pus 

 or matter is formed, a material made up of the imperfect dead ele- 

 ments and the broken down tissue. Between the two there is an inter- 

 mediate form, where we have imperfectly formed tissues, as in " proud 

 flesh," cancer, large and soft splints, fungus growths, greasy heels, 

 and thrush. 



Whether the inflamed tissue is one like the skin, lungs, or intes- 

 tines, very loose in their texture, or a tendon or bone, dense in struc- 

 ture, and comparatively poor in blood-vessels, the principle of the 

 process is the same. The effects, however, and the appearance may 

 be widely different. After a cut on the face or an exudation into the 

 lungs, the loose tissues and multiple vessels allow the proliferating 

 cells to obtain rich nourishment; absorption- can take plaee readily, 

 and the part regains its normal condition entirely, while a bruise at 

 the heel or at the withers finds a dense, inextensible tissue where the 

 multiplying elements and exuded fluids choke up aU communication, 

 and the*^ parts die (ulcerate) from want of blood and cause a serious 

 quittor or fistula. 



This effect of structure of a part on the same process shows the 

 importance of a i^erfect knowledge in the study of a local trouble, and 

 the indispensable part Avhich such knowledge plays in judging of the 

 gravity of an inflammatory disease, and in formulating- a prognosis 

 or opmion of the final termination of it. It is this which allows 

 the veterinarian, through his knowledge of the intimate structure of 

 a part and the relations of its elements, to judge of the severity of a 

 disease, and to prescribe different modes of treatment in two animals 

 for troubles which appear to the less experienced observer to be abso- 

 lutely identical. 



