BONES: DI8EASE8 AND ACCIDENTS. 283 



may be considered as secondary or predisposing causes. Sometimes 

 the disease appears without any apparent cause. On the whole, it may 

 be said that any of the above-mentioned factors may have more or less 

 influence on the production of rheumatism, but the specific cause is 

 as yetunknown. 



Symptoms <tf articular rheumatism. — The symptoms appear sud- 

 denly and with varying degrees of severity. The animal presents a 

 downcast appearance, with staring coat, horns and ears cold, and the 

 mouth and muzzle hot and dry. Appetite and rumination may be 

 impaired and followed later or be accompanied at the same time by 

 constipation. Constipation may be followed by impaction of the 

 stomach or bowels. Thirst is increased, but the amount of urine 

 voided is scanty. Respiration and pulse are accelerated, and there is 

 usually a fever, rising sometimes as high as 108° F. The animal pre- 

 fers to lie down, and when forced to rise stands with its back arched. 

 The movements are stiff and lame and cause great pain. The disease 

 may attack one or more joints at the same time ; in fact, it is often 

 symmetrical. One joint may improve while another becomes affected, 

 thus showing the shifting tendencj r of the in flammation. The affected 

 joints, including their tendons, ligaments, and synovial membranes, 

 may be swollen, hot, and distended with liquid. They are very ten- 

 der, and, if treated carelessly or injured, may become infected, thus 

 leading to suppuration. While rheumatism attacks perhaps more" fre- 

 quently the knees and fetlocks, it has no special affinity for any joint 

 and may attack the stifle, hip, shoulder, or elbow joint. In mild 

 cases of articular rheumatism, the animal may fully recover in a few 

 days. 



In chronic articular rheumatism there is less tendency of the dis- 

 ease to shift about, but there is a greater liability of structural change 

 in the affected joints. This change may consist of induration, exos- 

 tosis, or even anchylosis. These structural changes about the joints 

 may lead to permanent deformity, such as bending of the neck. 

 Fever is not so constant in the chronic form as in the acute, and the 

 latter may lapse into the former. 



Symptoms of muscular rheumatism. — This form of rheumatism may 

 appear under the same general conditions as the articular form. The 

 general appearance of the animal is the same in both forms. The cow 

 usually assumes a recumbent position, and all the movements made 

 are stiff and lame. The method of rising or of locomotion indicates 

 pain in certain muscles or groups of muscles, as of the croup, shoulder, 

 or neck. As in the case of articular rheumatism, the tendons, liga- 

 ments, and synovial membranes may become involved. The constitu- 

 tional symptoms in both articular and muscular rheumatism are sim- 

 ilar, so that it is often perplexing to differentiate between the two 

 forms. 



Prevention. — It is somewhat difficult to procure preventive treat- 



