472 GENERAL DISEASES. 



witli little or no warning, becomes dull, the appetite fails, and 

 there is great debility. The pulse is frequent and weak. Tbe 

 lining membrane of the nostrils, and that of the eyelids, assumes a 

 bilious red colour. The breathing becomes greatly quickened ; 

 and the nostrils, widely dilated. On this account, and from the 

 red appearance of the mucous membrane, cases of this disease 

 have been mistaken for those of congestion of the lungs. When 

 affected by the latter complaint, however, the animal fights for 

 breath, and does not exhibit the depression and semi-unconscious- 

 ness of one suffering from anthrax. The breathing, which is almost 

 entirely abdominal, as may be seen by the heaving of the flanks, 

 becomes more and more hurried, until, at last, the animal falls from 

 exhaustion, becomes convulsed, and dies, apparently, from suffoca- 

 tion. There is sometimes a flow of rusty-coloured fluid from the 

 nostrils, and, often, towards the end, or after death, a discharge 

 from them of foam more or less tinged with blood. Colic is fre- 

 quently present. The disease may kill in three or four hours ; but 

 in cases in which the symptoms are less marked, the animal may 

 linger on for a few days. 



When there is swelling of the neck, that part and the space 

 between the branches of the lower jaw swell, often, to an enor- 

 mous extent, so that the head and neck become hard and immov- 

 able, as if they were cut out of a single piece of wood. The 

 amount of swelling, however, greatly varies. 



In the abdominal form of anthrax, the rectum is sometimes 

 turned inside out. There are, in some cases, tumours containing 

 yellow (serous) fluid about the flanks, under-part of the belly, ajad 

 scrotum. 



The GENERAL SYMPTOMS of this disease are those of im- 

 peded respiration, and of infiltration into the various tissues. Hence 

 the painful breathing, the interference with the functions of the 

 brain, the semi-paralysed condition of the patient, and the local 

 swellings. 



PROSPECT OF RECOVERY.— The only cases that are at all 

 hopeful, are those in which the rise of internal temperature is 

 not very great. Although the question of mortality is most diffi- 

 cult to answer, I may venture to say that the recoveries, under 

 good treatment, average about 20 per cent, of those attacked. 



POST-MORTEM APPEARANCES.— The venous blood looks 

 like so much liquid tar; and the arterial is thick and dark-coloured. 

 The blood from both systems of vessels coagulates far less readily 

 than in health. The colour of the lungs varies from dark red to 



