362 TEXAS FEVER 



sistency, holding in suspension many flocculi. It imparts a 

 deep yellowish tinge to all articles coming in contact with it. 

 Owing to the mucus which is present it is quite viscid. 



The changes in the kidneys vary. If death occurs early 

 they are usually enlarged and uniformly darker than normal 

 throughout. The capillaries are distended with red corpus- 

 cles. Parenchymatous and fatty degenerations are not com- 

 mon, although occasionally present in the epithelium of the 

 tubules. The pelvis is often sprinkled with ecchymoses. 



The bladder may contain ecchymoses. 



It is important to note that throughout the kidneys, liver 

 and spleen pigment may be more or less abundant. 



In the digestive tract the lesions of this disease consist 

 largely of congestion of the mucosa especially in lines corre- 

 sponding to the summits of the folds of the mucous membrane. 

 It is more marked in the cecum and rectum than in the colon. 

 The cecum and less often the rectum contain dry, hard fecal 

 balls. In some cases in the intestines lesions are not observable. 

 In the older writings much emphasis is placed on certain 

 lesions, mostly nodular or abrasions, in the digestive tract. 

 Smith has shown, however, that most of these are due to 

 animal parasites and have no relation to Texas fever. 



As already stated, Texas fever is a disease of the blood 

 and consequently it is in this fluid that the most constant and 

 morbid changes occur. They are characterized by the blood 

 becoming thin and watery with a destruction of the red blood 

 corpuscles. In some of the cases the loss of corpuscles is rapid 

 and continuous until death or convalescence, while in others 

 there is a marked oscillation between destruction and regenera- 

 tion. In some animals the loss is not continuous, but the 

 course of the disease is marked by the , periods of rapid blood 

 destruction and periods of rest, or, as it were, where the blood 

 destruction was holding its own. These points are best illus- 

 trated from actual cases, three of which are taken from the 

 report by Smith and Kilborne. 



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