374 



DISEASES OF THE UBINABY APPARATUS. 



concern certain internal organs. When hemoglobin of muscular 

 origin reaches the blood, the organism destroys or eliminates it 

 through the emunctories in which it is deposited. The spleen, 

 which has gathered the scoriae of the red corpuscles, is obstructed 

 (^^ spodogenic^' tumefaction, Ponfick); the liver is also more or less 

 tumefied ; the red marrow of the bones is infiltrated anii colored 

 black. These lesions of the marrow, observed in long bones (femur, 

 humerus, radius, tibia), must not be considered, contrary to Diecker- 

 hoff^s opinion, as signs of osteomyelitis ; this author ascribes these 

 to " the irritating influence of the hemoglobinic serum," but the 

 injection of a considerable quantity of serum (obtained from eight 

 litres of blood) did not give rise to any trouble in a horse used for 

 experimental purposes (DieckerhofîP). To ascribe the conditions 

 observed during the course of the disease to osteomyelitis is a 

 fanciful hypothesis, for the alterations in the bone-marrow are often 

 entirely wanting. According to Ponfick, hemoglobinuria is set up 

 only when the quantity of free hemoglobin circulating in the blood 

 reaches more than one-sixtieth of the hemoglobin mass of the body. 

 When this condition is realized, hemoglobin infarctus is formed in 

 the kidney, which is soon accompanied by an acute parenchymatous 

 nephritis. 



Symptoms. They consist of troubles of locomotion which appear 

 within a quarter to half an hour, during exercise generally, as stated 

 above, in horses that have been resting for several days in a place 

 where ventilation has been neglected, having at the same time 

 received working rations. In benign cases, one might think that 

 the horse was suddenly aflfected by rheumatism ; the hind quarters 

 are stiff and distended, there is sometimes lameness in an anterior 

 or posterior member; in addition, perspiration is also observed 

 upon certain regions. In the graver cases, the animals stagger 

 behind and get along with difficulty, the walk being uncertain and 

 painful ; the angles of the joints remain open, the members seem 

 contracted, and the toes are dragged upon the ground ; at times we 

 observe spasms like flexion of the fetlock ; the animals tremble, 

 perspire, stand with difficulty upon their posterior members, and 

 even sink without being able to raise themselves again without 

 help ; excitement and anxiety are very marked, there is dyspnœa, 

 and the body is covered with perspiration. The animals make 

 useless efforts to return to the standing position and have to be 

 brought back to the stable by means of a vehicle. 



