66 BOVINE PATHOLOGY. 



injuries of the mouth or mercury poisoning, or defi- 

 cient. Sometimes it is materially altered in quality, 

 thus it may be viscid (" ropy '') or foetid, as in some 

 cases of tetanus. In cases of enteritis and other abdo- 

 minal inflammatory disorders, the rectum will, on manual 

 exploration, be found markedly elevated in temperature, 

 and its mucous membrane may protrude somewhat 

 through the anus, being of a bright scarlet colour. In 

 prolapsus recti it forms a rounded purple mass, its walls 

 being thickened by gelatinous deposit. This mucous 

 membrane is the seat of tumours (haemorrhoids or piles) 

 which may protrude after expulsion of the faeces. Manual 

 exploration of the rectum of the ox presents no special 

 features. The fceces are soft, pultaceous, and form a 

 rounded cake of a dark greenish-brown colour. They may 

 be altered in quality or quantity, scanty or wanting as in 

 constipation and costiveness, profuse in diarrhoea and dy- 

 sentery, mixed with much mucus in the former and with 

 blood in the latter case. The nature of the diet and the 

 activity or inertness of the liver alter their qualities, while 

 their odour also is very variable. The mucous membrane 

 of the vulva may be altered in colour, ulcerated, or the 

 seat of profuse discharge of a purulent, mucous, or san- 

 guineous nature; it becomes congested during oestrum. 

 The conjunctiva during health is of a rosy colour where it 

 lines the eyelids, and transparent where it invests the 

 cornea. In the latter position it may become opaque and 

 clouded, in the former of a bright scarlet in cases of 

 fever, yellow in liver disease, pale in anaemia, &c. The 

 tears may be profuse, as in local irritation, blocking of the 

 ductus ad nasum, and in the early stages of catarrh ; acrid, 

 as in certain blood diseases; mucous or purulent under 

 inflammation. The eyes may be over sensitive to light, 

 in consequence of which the eyelids droop ; frequently the 

 Meibomian secretion is profuse and adhesive, and the eye- 

 lids are swollen. The conditions of the alimentary canal 

 afPord some useful indications. Examination of the mouth 

 may detect diseased teeth, presence of foreign bodies, &c. 

 Enlargement may be present along the cervical portion of 



