230 DISEASES OF TRUE INFECTION. 



in this disease which should be mentioned, such as serious weakness 

 of the heart. This may be due to a parenchymatous degenera- 

 tion of the heart-muscle. It is generally fatal, as it produces 

 oedema of the lungs. Albuminuria is produced by parenchymatous 

 degeneration of the kidneys, and in rare instances from true 

 nephritis; decubitus is seen occasionally in severe cases in the 

 elbow- and knee-joints, also at the femoro-tibial articulation. This 

 sometimes causes septicaemia and produces death in this way. 



The large number of the above-described symptoms shows how 

 completely the whole body may be affected with this disease. We 

 also observe in some instances peculiarities and symptoms which 

 may to a large extent come from a general want of nutrition, or want 

 of resistance in some cases, while in others, and especially in the 

 terrier classes, they seem to be able to throw off the disease and 

 stand more acute attacks than other animals. There are some 

 forms of the disease which may be said to deviate from the reg- 

 ular course. These are as follows : 



1. Distemper with a Mild Termination. In such cases we have a 

 mild exanthema which may be difficult to rtcognize. A slight 

 respiratory or intestinal catarrh. The duration of this mild form 

 of the disease may be from half to one week. 



2. Distemper with Severe Termination. In these cases we have 

 for a long time separated the disease under the following divisions: 

 "pulmonal," ''nervous," "gastric," according to the acuteness 

 with which the symptoms may appear in the respiratory tract, the 

 nervous system, or the digestive apparatus. 



3. Acute Distemper with a Protracted Course. Distemper lasts 

 generally for two to three weeks, although we occasionally see cases 

 where the disease is prolonged for a much longer period. In such 

 case this prolongation is not due to the influence of the disease 

 directly, but rather with secondary complications. "We may count 

 among these certain nervous diseases which frequently remain or 

 appear after the disease has run its course. For iilstance, paral- 

 ysis of some of the muscles, of the hind-quarters, or of all the ex- 

 tremities, and rhythmic movements resembling St. Vitus's dance; 

 in some of the muscular groups, especially the muscles of the face 

 01- of the legs, and indicated by ( onstant twitching, clonic in charac- 

 ter, sometimes severer at one time than another, but more especially 

 after excitement. Amaurosis (blindness) may occur in some cases. 



