578 PNEUMONIA. 



Symptoms. The leading premonitory sign of pneumonia is 

 a shivering fit, more or less violent according to the intensity 

 of the attack. The symptoms mentioned under the head 

 ' Congestion of the Lungs,' apply very much to the early stage 

 of pneumonia. The cold stage of a symptomatic fever passes 

 on to heat, which pervades the body more or less generally. 

 The mouth is hot, the mucous membranes red and dry, 

 and there is an anxious expression of countenance. In the 

 horse, we find a characteristic position. The animal stands 

 obstinately, with its limbs outstretched, and its head pro- 

 truded. This is to bring into play the auxiliary muscles of 

 respiration. The breathing is short, frequent, and abdominal; 

 it is often as much as 30 or 40 per minute. There is cough. 

 The pulse rises to 60 or 70, is full and oppressed. The 

 back is rigid, bowels costive, urine high coloured, and skin 

 dry and tight. 



Auscultation enables us to make an exact diagnosis. One 

 or both lungs may be affected. If both are seized, the 

 inflammation is chiefly towards the posterior part; but if one 

 lung alone is affected, it may be inflamed throughout its whole 

 substance. There is usually some degree of bronchitis, and 

 over all the free portion of lung the murmur is more audible 

 than usual. The affected part is consolidated; over it the 

 ribs are fixed, and no respiratory murmur can be heard. 

 I have seen cases of pneumonia in which a lung was inflamed 

 in its centre, and free both at its anterior and posterior part. 

 In such cases several large and rigid bronchial tubes permit 

 the passage of air through the partially consolidated lung, 

 and the loudest rhonchus is then detected. It is this that 

 human physicians have called bronchial respiration. 



The expired air in pneumonia is hotter than usual, and 

 breathing becomes more and more laboured as the disease 

 advances. There is a great tendency to coldness of the extre- 



