MORBID ANATOMY 



83 



croupous exudation appeared, which seemingly resulted from 

 the effect of swine-plague bacteria in the large intestine. 



The production of intestinal disease by swine-plague bac- 

 teria may be supposed to go on as follows : the bacteria first 

 attack the lung tissues and there produce more or less hepatiza- 

 tion. The blood through the lungs finds its path partly ob- 

 structed. This reacts on the blood in the right side of the 

 heart and the venous blood entering it. Hence there may be 

 more or less stasis of blood in the portal circulation which in 

 turn impairs the digestive functions of the stomach. The 



Fig. 13. Kidney from a case of acute swine plague, showing punc- 

 tiforni hemorrhages. 



swine-plague bacteria in the lungs in the later stages of the 

 pneumonia may be coughed up in the contents of the bronchial 

 tubes, swallowed and passed through the impaired stomach 

 unharmed into the intestines. The stagnation of the feces in 

 the large intestine furnishes the bacteria an opportunity to 

 cause inflammation with exudation on the mucous membrane. 

 The tendency of swine-plague bacteria to cause fibrinous 

 inflammatory deposits on serous membranes may serve to 

 explain such action on mucous membranes. 



There is general congestion with resulting degeneration 

 of the parenchyma of the spleen, kidneys and liver in the acute 

 septicemic forms of the disease. In these cases the specific 



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