248 DISEASES OF CATTLE. 



from the womb, an unhealthy open sore, a case of erysipelas, from 

 overcrowding, from filthy floor or bedding, or from an offensive 

 accunndation of manure, solid or liquid. As the microbes vary in 

 . different cases, given outljreaks will differ materially in their nature. 

 One is erysipelatoid ; another purulent infection with the tendency to 

 secondary abscesses in the joints, liver, lungs, etc. ; another is from 

 a septic germ and is associated with fetid discharge from the navel 

 and general putrid blood poisoning. In estimating the causes of the 

 disease we must not omit debility of the calf when the mother has 

 been imderfed or badly housed or when either she or the fetus has 

 been diseased. 



Symptoms. — The symptoms vary. With the chain-form germs 

 (streptococci) the navel becomes intensely red, with a very firm, 

 painful swelling, ending abruptly at the edges in sound skin and 

 extending forward along the umbilical veins. The secondary dis- 

 eases are circumscribed, black engorgements (infarctions) or ab- 

 scesses of the liver, lungs, kidneys, bowels, or other internal organs, 

 and sometimes disease of the joints. 



With the ordinary pus-i^roducing germs {Staphylococcus pyog- 

 enes aureus and Streptococcus pyogenes) the local inflammation in 

 the navel causes a hot, joainful swelling, which rapidly advances to 

 the formation of matter (pus), and the raw, exposed surface, at first 

 bright red, becomes dark red or black, soft, friable, and pultaceous. 

 If the 13US is white, creamy, and comparativelj' inoffensive in odor, 

 the secondary formations in internal organs and joints are mainly 

 of the same purulent character (secondary abscesses). 



If, on the other hand, the discharge is very offensive and the pus 

 more serous, watery, or bloody, there is reason to suspect the pres- 

 ence of some of the septic bacteria, and the results on the general 

 system are a high fever and softening of the liver and spleen and no 

 tendency to abscesses of the internal organs. Diarrhea is a common 

 symptom, and death ensues early, the blood after death being found 

 unclotted. 



Complicated cases are common, and in all alike the umbilical veins 

 usually remain open and can be explored by a probe passed at first 

 upward and then forward toward the liver. 



Prevention is sought by ap]ilying a lotion of carbolic acid or iodin 

 solution to the navel string at birth, or it may be smeared with com- 

 mon wood tar_, which is at once antiseptic and a protective covering 

 against germs. In the absence of either a strong decoction of oak 

 bark may be used. 



Local treatment consists in the application of antiseptic to the sur- 

 face and their injection into the vein. As a lotion carbolic acid, 1 

 ounce in a quart of strong decoction of oak bark, should be used, or 

 salicylic acid or salol may be sprinkled on the surface. The interior 



