Surra : Rot. 591 



dry, powdery, rigid and more and more firmly adherent to the 

 bones and muscles, losing all its natural pliancy and mellowness, 

 and becoming like that of a dead animal. It is bloodless, and 

 sloughs readily over the prominent bones, where compressed or 

 bruised in lying, owing to the lack of nutritive and reparatory 

 action. The visible mucosas are absolutely bloodless. The mus- 

 cles as a whole are wasted to an extreme degree, but this atrophy 

 is most marked in the back and loins, along the longissimus dorsi 

 and in the quarter in the gluteal muscles. The patient may 

 remain recumbent, from sheer weakness, for a length of time at 

 the last, or he may get up after a long recumbency and stand to 

 the end. 



Death may occur early with general anasarca and extreme hyper- 

 thermia (110° F.). In the great majority it appears to result 

 largely from perforation of the stomach, clots in the heart, or 

 general debility and heart failure. 



Diagnosis. With symptoms such as are above described the 

 discovery of the trypanosoma in the blood completes the diagnosis. 

 Trypanosoma is found in dourine, nagana and other affections so 

 that the discovery of it alone would not be conclusive as to the 

 existence of surra. Nor can the discovery of the parasite always 

 be made at the first or second attempt. The swarm of mature 

 trypanosomata is found with the advent of a paroxysm , and as the 

 veterinarian is often called during the decline of the attack the 

 parasites have already retired and elude his investigation. It 

 becomes needful to take the temperature and examine the blood 

 daily sometimes for eight or ten days, and when with a sudden 

 rise of temperature he finds also a swarming of the mature trypano- 

 somata, the diagnosis is perfect. A drop of blood placed on a 

 cover glass, pressed down upon the slide, and placed under the 

 microscope, will show the parasite with eel-like movements 

 among the blood globules. There may be very few during the 

 first or second paroxysm, but they become numerous and very 

 obvious as the disease gains its height. Evans recommends to use 

 defibrinated blood. 



They may be dried rapidly on a cover glass, fixed in absolute 

 alcohol one or two minutes, then stained ten minutes in a mixture 

 of the two following liquids united just before using : 



