GRANULAR VENEREAL DISEASE AND ABORTION IN CATTLE. 5 



SYMPTOMS. 



The essential clinical symptom of the granular venereal disease 

 consists of the appearance in the vulvar mucosa, protruding above 

 its surface, of nodular, conical, spheroidal, or flat elevations, usually 

 1 to 2 millimeters in diameter. They are best observed clinically by 

 holding the vulvar lips apart and causing a strong light to enter 

 the vulva obliquely. The examination may be conducted advanta- 

 geously in a well-lighted stable, by having the animal placed with 

 her posterior parts presenting toward a window somewhat above 

 the level of her back. The examiner then grasps each vulvar lip 

 between the thumb and fingers, and, drawing the lips backward and 

 outward, exposes the interior of the vulva to vision. The light, 

 falling obliquely into the vulvar cavity illuminates it well, and, by 

 refraction, the nodules are brought clearly into view. 



In order to examine every part, the examiner should shift his 

 position again and again, that he may view such area at the proper 

 angle. In order to examine satisfactorily the roof of the vulva, the 

 eye of the examiner should be on an approximately horizontal line 

 with the mucosa. Highly satisfactory examinations may also be 

 made in dark stables or at night with the aid of a good reflecting lamp. 



The nodules are also recognizable upon digital palpation, the 

 elevations being very evident to the sense of touch. At times digital 

 palpation may have an advantage over vision because, as related 

 below, even when the nodules are abundant, the mucosa may be 

 edematous to such a degree that the nodules are rendered invisible, 

 the thickened, edematous mucosa serving to cover them from view, 

 though still palpable. 



Under the prevailing conditions in American dairy herds, and so 

 far as we know in the dairy herds of the world, heifer calves usually 

 develop clinical signs of the disease at from 4 to 12 weeks of age, and 

 from that time through adult lif e to old age present a series of interesting 

 vacillations of intensity so great that various writers have designated 

 these manifestations as acute, subacute, chronic, cured, sound, etc. 



If the newborn heifer calf is kept in the same stable with dairy 

 cows, perhaps in contact for two or three days with her dam, is fed 

 and handled by persons who are in close contact with the cows, and 

 placed in a common inclosure with older infected calves, the vulvar 

 mucosa usually appears normal, smooth, moist, pale rose-colored 

 for a period varying from 4 to 12 weeks, or even longer, when 

 visual inspection reveals the presence of several or many spheroido- 

 conical nodules in the vulvar mucosa 1 to 2 millimeters in diameter. 

 They are usually solitary until they become *very numerous, when 

 they tend to become arranged in rows. They are most frequently 

 colorless or faintly yellowish in the center and present the appear- 

 ance of small, tense vesicles, but upon close examination they are 



