ABERRATION OF THE APPETITE. 



61 



A cure may be obtained within from three weeks to four months 

 (Lemke), under the influence of a simple change of regimen. The 

 transition from winter diet to pasture, or from pasture to winter 

 diet, change of location, etc., may have a happy result; there is a 

 much better chance of obtaining this result when the affection is 

 but slightly advanced. If the causes, however, which have origi- 

 nated it persist, and no efficient treatment is applied, the affection 

 ordinarily terminates in death. 



Pathological anatomy. In the majority of cases the animals 

 are killed at a stage when the disease is little advanced ; then a 

 more or less marked emaciation only can be observed, together 

 with the catarrhal condition of the mucous membrane of the diges- 

 tive tract. When the disease has terminated in death, more deeply 

 seated alterations are found. The fat has disappeared ; the adi- 

 pose tissue shows a gelatinous consistence ; it is often of a reddish- 

 gray color; the emaciated muscles are pale and soft; the little 

 blood that is left is pale-red and forms half-liquid clots. We 

 sometimes find a serous exudate in the pleura, pericardium, and 

 peritoneum. The gastro-intestinal mucous membrane is the seat 

 of a more or less intense catarrh. Finally, the skin becomes dry 

 and hard ; the subcutaneous connective tissue has almost entirely 

 disappeared. 



The cases that have been described as having bone lesions belong 

 to osteomalacia, and not to licking-disease. 



Prognosis. The prognosis varies with the period of the disease. 

 It is very serious when the animals are already in an advanced 

 stage of emaciation, and if digestive troubles exist. Change of diet 

 and other means are then usually insufficient. In mild cases the 

 prognosis will depend chiefly upon the causes of the affection, and 

 the possibility of suppressing it either by changing the regimen 

 or by removing the animals. 



The gravity of the prognosis will be greatly lessened, if the 

 happy results from apomorpliine as a curative agent that have 

 been obtained by Lemke are confirmed in practice. 



Treatment. In order to enter upon a rational treatment an 

 absolutely indispensable prerequisite is the knowledge of the 

 cause of the disease. Unfortunately, in many cases we are reduced 

 to mere hypothesis. 



When the nutritive relation of the food does not correspond to 

 the needs of the organism, prophylaxis must consist in a modifica- 



