INTRODUCTION. 65 



of the horse. It may become almost pathognomonic in 

 certain diseases, as especially pleuro-pneumonia contagiosa. 

 In our determination of disease of the ox, as in those 

 of most other dumb animals, we have to rely principally 

 on OBJECTIVE symptoms, which are independent of the 

 animal's sensations, rather than upon those subjective in- 

 dications conveyed by the animal himself. Nevertheless, 

 we have a few of the latter to guide us, such as shaking 

 of the feet in eczema epizootica, backing in pelvic hernia, 

 and flinching when pressure is applied to the intercostal 

 spaces in cases of pleuritis. The expression of the animal 

 is often the means of conveyance of useful information 

 to us j the retracted condition of the angles of the 

 mouth in trismus, the wild look in rabies, the staring 

 of the eyes under acute abdominal pain, and the altered 

 expression due to opacity of the eye are familiar to 

 most practitioners. General sensation is sometimes per- 

 verted or lost, and is tested by inserting a pin into a limb 

 presumed to be paralysed. The movements of the animal 

 may be stiff as in tetanus, rheumatism, &c., or the inter- 

 ference may amount to absolute lameness, due either to 

 disorder of the affected limb or to sympathy with other 

 parts, as may be observed in the lameness of the right 

 fore-limb in liver disorder. The nisihle mucous mem- 

 branes of the ox during health somewhat vary in colour. 

 The Schneiderian is moist and pink, but under disease 

 may become livid, yellow, scarlet, or very pale, ulcerated, 

 and covered with discharge of a nature varying according 

 to the case, mucous, purulent, sanguineous, &c. The 

 lining membrane of the mouth is very dense in the ox, 

 developed into horny papillae on the inner surface of the 

 cheek and the dorsum of the tongue, and modified to form 

 the dental pad at its antero-superior part. It sometimes 

 exhibits abrasions either from coarse material taken into the 

 mouth, or from the sharp prominences of the molar teeth. 

 In other cases it has vesicles of a specific or ordinary cha- 

 racter upon it ; in febrile cases it is dry. While observing 

 its condition we can note also the characters of the saliva, 

 which may be profuse, constituting Ptyalism, as seen in 



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