118 



DISEASES OF THE DIGESTIVE APPARATUS. 



Later, an intense diarrhea sets in, and emaciation follows ; then a 

 jaundiced condition with tendency to œdema ; the appetite is lacking 

 or capricious, but there is no sign of * kicking." The animals are 

 sensitive to pressure upon the right hypochondrium. The course of 

 the disease is very irregular, and often, after many months, it termi- 

 nates in death. At the autopsy we find a considerable thickening 

 of the mucous membrane and of the submucous connective tissue ; 

 this is the seat of an œdematous infiltration in the neighborhood of 

 the pylorus and in the duodenum ; the mucous membrane, which is 

 of a red catarrhal shade, may acquire a thickness of four centi- 

 metres ; in the chronic form we notice follicular ulcerations in it. 

 Tannin, in doses of 50 grammes a day, has been quite efficient. 



Harms describes under the name of "catarrh of the abomasum 

 and duodenum " a disease of the digestive apparatus appearing sud- 

 denly, and disappearing after a few days. This disease is distin- 

 guished from common stomachal catarrh by the icteric coloration 

 of the conjunctiva, the preserved normal character of the fecal 

 matters, the soundness of the functions of the rumen, even when 

 the latter is full, and also by the sensitiveness of the region of the 

 abomasum to pressure of the hand. This affection is said to be 

 almost always accompanied by licking.'' As lesions, we find, at 

 the outset, an œdematous swelling and hyperemia of the mucous 

 membrane, which is covered with an abundant exudate. The 

 autopsy made at an earlier period shows the mucous membrane 

 folded and thickened. Harms has treated his patients by subject- 

 ing them to a dietetic regimen, giving forage of easy digestion, and 

 administering Carlsbad salts and hydrochloric acid internally. 



This author has also described a case of obstruction of the abo- 

 masum.^ In this observation the abomasum, which might at first 

 sight have been mistaken for the rumen, contained forty-five litres 

 of ruminated alimentary matters. During life frequent eructations 

 had been observed, also an abnormal sensibility of the abomasum, 

 salivation, vomiting, and obstruction of the rectum by fecal matters. 



GASTRO-INTBSTINAL CATARRH OP YOUNG 

 ANIMALS. 



By its etiology, its course and treatment, gastro-intestinal catarrh 

 of young animals differs essentially from the same affection in 



1 Harms : Haanov. Jahresbericht., 1879-80. 



