I860.] 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



477 



&c., the lung on the other side is being 

 filled with exuded lymp, and is gradually 

 undergoing solidification, so that after a 

 while, the lungs fail to eliminate carbonic 

 acid gas from the blood and impart to it 

 oxygen, and then the animal dies. 



In some cases the disease first commences 

 in a purely pulmonic form affecting the 

 substance of the lung and then attacking 

 the pleura; whenever it occurs m what is 

 called a " high inflammatory form," it usually 

 runs a rapid coijrse and ends in mortifica- 

 tion of the lungs; yet during my visits at 

 North Brookfield, I have not seen more 

 than two cases of mortification of the 

 lungs. 



The disease sometimes occurs in the 

 non- inflammatory form, and in character exu- 

 dative, and lingers in the system for months, 

 yet during this period it may escape ordina- 

 ry observation, and the owner of the animal 

 may declare that there is nothing amiss 

 with the creature. Such was the case with 

 a young bull, killed a short time ago, and 

 the young cow also, two out of the three 

 animals purchased at Belmont last June. 



Very many of the animals slaughtered 

 under the auspices of the surgeons employ- 

 ed by the commissioners, had tumors in 

 their lungs; these tumors consisted of por- 

 tions of detached lung, circumscribed spots, 

 in which the disease in its active form ori- 

 ginally existed, some of these so called tu- 

 mors weighed from one to twenty-four 

 pounds ! Whenever we found a tumor, it 

 was always adherent to the chest, or rather, 

 the lining membrane of the same, and was 

 enveloped in a dense fibrous covering or 

 tunic, by which means nature preserved the 

 integrity of the sound portion of the lung; 

 the object in uniting the tumor with the 

 pleura, is to organize it with arteries and 

 veins, which are thrown out from the pleura, 

 so that the diseased mass may be absorbed 

 by the blood, and carried out of the system 

 by the excrementitious vessels and organs; 

 and it is in this way that nature by the si- 

 lent operation of her own forces attempts, 

 and finally very often succeeds, in curing 

 I disease. 



These diseased spots or tumors are de- 

 tached from the sound part of the lung by 

 what is called the ulcerative process, and as 

 fast as ulceration proceeds, the adjacent parts 

 are protected by deposits of fibrine, which 

 eflfectually seal up the open air cells and 



blood vessels, so that the tumor — orig'malh/ 

 real lung tissue — immediately escapes when 

 the process is completed, and the part is cut 

 into. 



Occasionally we find the lung or a portion 

 of one or both lobes in a state of hepatiza- 

 tion, which signifies liver-like ; there are 

 two kinds of hepatization, one is called red, 

 the other grey ; on cutting through them 

 they leel like liver, and when a portion is 

 put into water it sinks. 



SYMPTOMS OF THE DISEASE. 



The old sayiiig is that "in dry times all • 

 signs fail,'' so it is with exudative pleuro- 

 pneumonia, when it assumes a mild form ; 

 when it first appeared at Belmont, and af- 

 terwards at North Brookfield, it was in the 

 acute form, and in spite of all treatment 

 run a rapid course ; its symptoms were then 

 somewhat uniform — -for example, it was ush- 

 ered in by a short, dry, husky cough, and 

 the animal on being urged to move showed 

 symptoms of distress ; the respirations were 

 accelerated; the pulse quick and wiry; the 

 animal dull and listless ; the bowels consti- 

 pated ; the milk decreased in quantity and 

 of a yellow tinge, and the appetite is not so 

 good as usual. 



Now the disease has assumed a milder 

 form, being modified by passing through the 

 systems of various herds, consequently the 

 " signs fail," yet let the disease be in ever 

 so mild a form the creature shows unthrifti- 

 ness, appears dull and has a languid look; 

 the hair in some parts of the body stands 

 on end ; the respirations are quickened, as 

 well as the pulse, yet the appetite is not im- 

 paired, in fact there is no complaint made 

 about an animal's appetite except when the 

 disease commences in the form of pleurisy, 

 in which case very little food is eaten, and 

 if the animal be pressed in the spaces be- 

 tween the ribs, it shows signs of pain. It 

 will generally be found that in the acute 

 stage there is considerable tenderness all 

 along the spine, and the moment a person's 

 hand is placed in that vicinity the aff"ectGd 

 creature will shrink. The horns and ex- 

 tremities are alternately hot and cold; urine 

 dark colored and scanty; fseces darker than 

 usual. Yet when the disease takes on the 

 incipient form, the work of destruction goes 

 on in so mild a manner that it eludes detec- 

 tion, until auscultation or percussion re- 

 veals it. 



