176 THEORY AND PRACTICE 



Kitasato and Canon corroborated Pfeiffer's discovery. Ehrlich 

 claimed that the germ was a streptococcus. Influenza is recog- 

 nized today as a contagious disease but the means of communi- 

 cation are not known, probably it is through the alimentary tract. 

 The germs may be taken into the respiratory tract first and then 

 when expelled, lodge in the pharynx and are swallowed. It is 

 thought that horses get the disease from eating and drinking 

 from common receptacles. It is a good plan to have their drink- 

 ing water constantly running and this will carry away any foreign 

 matter that may accumulate. The disease is not atmospheric but 

 it travels along the lines of commerce. The atmosphere may in- 

 fluence it to the extent that a decrease in ozone will produce de- 

 pression while an increase in the ozone stimulates the animal. 



Influenza is a blood disease and it produces catarrhal dis- 

 charges from all the mucous membranes. 



Semeiology. — The disease presents different symptoms ac- 

 cording to whether it is involved with complications or not. The 

 symptoms of the uncomplicated form of the disease are as fol- 

 lows : Great nervous depression and languor with high fever. 

 During the first twenty-four hours the fever is about 106 and 

 then it falls to 105 or 103. The animal is inclined to lie down 

 more or less, his legs swell, the swellings are sore under palpa- 

 tion, and he generally loses his appetite. After twenty-four 

 hours there is a profuse discharge from the nose and after forty- 

 eight hours a marked loosening of the bowels, and the mucous 

 membranes are usually icteric. The inflammation sometimes at- 

 tacks the urinary apparatus and produces profuse micturition. 

 If the animal is not well blanketed his coat stares, breathing is 

 accelerated and the mucous membranes are injected. The head 

 hangs, the ears and the eyelids droop. In the corners of the eye 

 is coagulated mucous. Often the throat is sore and there is a 

 troublesome cough. This cough is inclined to remain with the 

 animal and become chronic. It is thought by some that this dis- 

 ease produces roaring and this cannot be disputed. 



In the uncomplicated case the fever generally goes down to 

 normal in three or four days and the appetite is regained and 

 the animal makes a good recovery in from five to ten days. The 

 discharge subsides and the animal seems to be none the worse 



