98 PRACTICE OF EQUINE MEDICINE. 



What are the symptoms ? 



These vary with the amount of septic material present. There 

 is a slight chill, followed by fever, with a rapid rise of temperature, 

 being as high as 105° or 106° ; there is dulness of the special senses, 

 and prostration; the skin is hot and dry, there being hardly any 

 perspiration; the secretions and excretions are often tinged with 

 blood; the urine contains a large amount of urates; the mucous 

 membranes are of a dirty yellowish color and ecchymosed. 



The pulse is small, weak, and quick, the respirations are feeble 

 and difficult, and there is bloody diarrhoea in the majority of cases. 

 The lymphatic glands become swollen all over the body, and it is 

 through this channel that the septic material gets into the circu- 

 lation. 



How is septicaemia diagnosed? 



From the fact that these symptoms appear in animals where 

 we expect to see this condition, following gangrenous wounds and 

 the like. 



What is the prognosis? 



If the symptoms are severe and the constitution of the animal 

 is weak, the prognosis is grave ; in the milder forms the prognosis 

 is more favorable. 



What is the morbid anatomy? 



The blood is darker than normal; it coagulates less readily, 

 and contains pus microbes. The spleen is enlarged and softer; the 

 lymphatic glands show signs of inflammation; the various viscera 

 are somewhat swollen; mucous membranes of the stomach and 

 bowels are often inflamed. Capillaries are inflamed, and hemor- 

 rhages often take place in the skin and mucous membranes, in the 

 shape of ecchymotic spots. 



What is the treatment? 



The local treatment consists in the removal of the cause, if 

 possible; the using of antiseptics in those putrid wounds, also 

 removing those parts of the wound that are gangrenous, remember- 

 ing to keep the wound open. 



The constitutional treatment consists in good hygienic condi- 

 tions, good nourishing food, good air, etc.; internal antiseptics, 

 dilute acids, lime-water, stimulants (as whiskey), quinine, bro- 

 mine, strychnine, salicylic acid. 



