40 



DISEASES OF THE DIGESTIVE APPARATUS 



toms vary with the intensity of the disease. In the catarrhal form 

 the fever is nearly always absent (Spinola).^ We observe, princi- 

 pally, redness of the mucous membrane, sometimes a lacrymation, 

 an accelerated, difficult or painful respiration, a dry cough, a 

 hoarse voice, heat in the buccal cavity, difficulty of deglutition^ 

 retching, and even true vomiting, also a more or less pronounced 

 red and sensitive puffiness of the throat. Appetite is lessened or 

 entirely suppressed. The duration of the disease is from ten to 

 fifteen days ; cough becomes more and more moist, and recovery, 

 which is the rule, becomes more and more evident ; the morbid 

 process rarely persists in an aggravated form. 



According to Spinola, the symptoms of aggravated angina are : 

 Redness and dryness of the groin and visible mucous membranes, 

 especially those of the mouth ; bright and haggard eyes ; the 

 guttural region is red, hot, tumefied, and painful ; the mouth is 

 hot, breath short and often very painful ; cough abortive, shorty 

 and painful — the patients seek to avoid it ; the grunt is hoarse. 

 The appetite is lost, and deglutition is always difficult. Defecation 

 and micturition are rare ; the excrements are hard, and the urine 

 is yellowish-brown. 



Later, when the disease takes a more serious character, these 

 symptoms increase in intensity. The mucous membranes become 

 of a dark livid color ; respiration is very painful, almost spas- 

 modic ; the patietits take a sitting position, similar to the dog's, 

 the fore-feet spread and head stretched ; they breathe through the 

 half-opened mouth, and produce a distressed, wheezing noise ; 

 anguish is extreme ; the eyes are injected and protruding ; there 

 is a stare of agony in the look ; the veins of the head swell up ; 

 the groins, the lips, and the mucous membrane of the mouth 

 become of a bluish-red shade. The animals stagger, fall, have 

 convulsions, and die from asphyxia in from twenty- four hours to 

 three days. 



The autopsy generally reveals an intense inflammation and the 

 existence of a croupous exudate in the pharynx, larynx, and upper 



1 It is difficult to recognize a feverish condition in the pig. The normal tempera- 

 ture, which is on an average 39.6° C, 103.7° F. (Siedamgrotzky) is subject to very 

 great variation ; the same is true with regard to the pulsations. We are obliged to 

 have recourse to the contingent symptoms, which are : the fever, the dryness and 

 lividity of the groin, the pendant ears, uncurled tail, cold extremities, the lost appetite 

 accelerated respiration, and the tendency of the animals to remain in their litter. 



