DYSENTERY. 287 



DYSENTERY COLITIS BLOODY FLUX. 



A very dangerous form of inflammation of the mucous 

 membrane of the intestine, chiefly of the large, and attended 

 with ulceration and haemorrhage, receives the name of dysen- 

 tery. It is a disease far more commonly seen in the ox than 

 in the horse, and frequently observed in omnivorous and 

 carnivorous animals. It is closely allied to severe forms of 

 diarrhoea, though instances of the latter, such as the 

 diarrhoea of suckling animals, are improperly termed dysen- 

 tery, and believed to depend on inflammatory action. Dysen- 

 tery is not unfrequently epizootic in different parts of the 

 world, and may constitute one of the principal complications 

 in a contagious fever, such as the steppe disease or contagious 

 typhoid In Great Britain it is chiefly seen as a sporadic 

 affecting cows in ill-ventilated byres, &c. 



Dysentery is observed in an acute and chronic form. 

 Young and vigorous animals are most frequently affected 

 with the first, and old worn-out animals with the last. The 

 causes differ in the two cases, and active irritants or a blood 

 poison produce the acute form, whereas the chronic is brought 

 about by circumstances which lower the system or interfere 

 with the function of some important enmnctory, such as the 

 skin or lungs. Bad food and exposure are powerful causes 

 co-operating with others to induce this disorder. With re- 

 gard to the horse, Mr Percivall says that the ordinary cause 

 of dysentery is long sojourn in low, wet, marshy pastures, 

 and that he once received a horse from Plumstead Marshes 

 to treat, who was dysenteric, hidebound, lousy, and in a state 

 of great debility. 



I have witnessed this disease in the dog, especially in young 

 animals tied to a dog kennel in some exposed situation, to 

 watch a garden or house. In these cases there are general 





