MENINGO-ENCEPHALITIS 239 



> than normal and deeper. Sometimes Cheyne-Stokes respi- 

 rations have been noted. The pulse may be too rapid or 

 too slow. 



During the stage of excitement the sensibility of the 

 patient is increased; later greatly reduced. The poll of the 

 head may feel warm; striking it lightly with a percussion 

 hammer causes the patient to wince. The papilla of the 

 eye is intensely congested. 



Topical symptoms in meningo-encephalitis are rare in 

 animals. They consist in spasms of the eye muscles (nys- 

 tagmus) or a deviation of one of the eyes from its proper 

 direction (strabismus) ; the pupil may be fixed or react slowly 

 to light; quite frequently the pupils are of unequal size; 

 spasms of the masseter muscles causing gnashing of the 

 teeth or even trismus; the muscles of the. lips, nose, ears 

 and neck may also show spasmodic contractions. Paralysis 

 of peripheral parts, such as the pharynx, tongue and the lids, 

 occasionally occurs. Hemiplegia is a rarer consequence. 



Fever is usually noted in the beginning of the disease. 

 If the temperature remaias high dm-ing the latter stages, it 

 is probably due to septic infection or pneumonia which 

 may complicate the disease. 



The appetite is impaired or suppressed and the prehen- 

 sion of food unphysiological the animal eating and drinking 

 much as does a "dummy." 



Course. — ^The disease develops in two to three days. It 

 may develop suddenly with symptoms of excitement and 

 violence followed by those of mental depression and stupor 

 the animal dying in less than a day. In other cases the 

 development is much slower the animal showing no very 

 pronounced symptoms but seems mentally perturbed, shows 

 impaired appetite, expressionless countenance, labored loco- 

 motion, etc., symptoms which in two to three weeks attain 

 a higher degree. Tubercular meningitis in cattle usually 

 assumes a subacute course and develops slowly. In some 

 cases improvement is followed by a relapse. Meniago- 

 encephalitis is not infrequently complicated by pneumonia 

 (hypostatic or foreign body), septicemia or pyemia. 



Digitized by Microsoft® 



