Dysentery of Cattle. 249 



The mesenteric glands are red and swollen or pigmented 

 of a dark gray color, and these or the adjacent connective tissue 

 may be the seat of abscess. The liver is enlarged, congested, of 

 a yellowish red color, with granular degeneration and softening. 

 Hepatic abscess is rare in cattle. The spleen is engorged with 

 black blood and distinctly enlarged. 



Diagnosis. Dysentery is distinguished from rinderpest by the 

 slower advance of the hyperthermia, by the absence of buccal 

 concretions of epithelium, and of vaginal congestion, and above 

 all by the absence of the virulent contagion by which the rinder- 

 pest spreads widely and rapidly, irrespective of special unwhole- 

 some environment. The lesions of dysentery are concentrated on 

 the large intestines, while in rinderpest they are extended over 

 the whole alimentary canal, and do not spare other mucosae. 



From toxic gastro-enteritis it is distinguished by the absence of 

 any history or lesions showing the ingestion of a poison and by 

 the concentration of the lesions on the large intestines whereas 

 in poisoning by irritants, the stomach and small intestines are 

 the most liable to suffer. 



Prevention. Precautions against overcrowding on board ship 

 in hot seasons, and the maintenance of cleanliness are prime 

 considerations. In commissariat herds close crowding must be 

 avoided, feeding should be done at different points for six or 

 eight cattle at each, the yards should be frequently changed, or 

 carefully cleared of manure and sprinkled with a solution of 

 3 per cent, sulphuric acid. In case an animal is attacked it 

 should at once be removed and killed, and its offal and the yard 

 where it has been disinfected. Food and drinking water should 

 be specially wholesome. 



Treatment. Mild cases may be successfully treated by the use 

 of mucilaginous draughts, (boiled flaxseed, mallow, slippery elm, 

 gum arabic) with antiseptics (salicylic acid or salicylate of soda 

 2 to 3 drs. , salol 1 dr. , creosote 1 dr. , sulphate or chloride of 

 iron 1 dr. ) every three hours. 



In the more severe cases the most varied treatment has been 

 resorted to. Formerly opiates and astringents were largely 

 employed, practically shuttiug up the poison in the intestine. 

 Ipecacuan in large and frequently repeated doses had the ad- 

 vantage of soliciting the action of both liver and bowels, but 

 however useful, it has gradually declined in public confidence. 



