Acute Mammits 949 



in the larger milk ducts, to add to the engorgement of the gland. 

 The liquid portions of the milk are watery, and vary in color 

 according to circumstances. Usually in the earlier stages the 

 liquid portion of the milk is white, faintly bluish-white, or yellow. 

 Sometimes it is streaked with blood, or merely somewhat tinged 

 with blood, to give it a faint reddish color. When gangrene ap- 

 pears, the liquid which may drip or be expressed from the teat 

 has a tell-tale necrotic-red color, which at once reveals the con- 

 dition of the deep-seated tissues. 



The albumen in the milk may be increased ten-fold ; the salts 

 may be largely increased ; while the fat and casein almost dis- 

 appear. Sometimes the contents of the milk cistern are princi- 

 pally or wholly of pus. 



The milk may be either odorless or more or less fetid. In 

 many cases, when the diseased liquid is pressed out from the teat 

 and caught, it is found to be extremely fetid, giving off the odor 

 of fetid pus from wounds. In gangrene, the typical gangrenous 

 odor may be present in the fluid. The taste of the diseased milk 

 shows every possible variation, usually is somewhat salty or may 

 be bitter. 



Bacteriologically, the discharge from the gland may be highly 

 variable, and include, as already suggested, various forms of 

 diplococci, streptococci or bacilli, and other organisms char- 

 acteristic of wound infection. The infection may be pure or 

 mixed. 



The systemic disturbances of mammitis are not always in 

 harmony with the extent and intensity of the local lesions.. 

 Usually, in severe, acute mammitis, there are well-marked sys- 

 temic disturbances, consisting essentially of fever or septicaemia. 

 In very acute cases of mastitis, we have observed the tempera- 

 ture rise suddenly, reaching 106° F. within twenty-four hours 

 from the time of infection. Generally, when there is an ex- 

 tensive inflammation of the udder, a more or less marked fever 

 is present, with all the symptoms which that term usually 

 includes, such as loss of appetite, torpidity of the bowels, dry 

 muzzle, suspension of rumination and decrease of thirst. The 

 urinary and other functions are decreased, and there is more or 

 less profound depression. In the early stages of the disease, 

 there may be chills, with staring coat. When the disease be- 

 comes very severe, there ensues a loss of sensibility, and the 



