384 DISEASES OF THE URINARY APPARATUS. 



in stiffness of the hind quarters, sensitiveness of the lumbar region 

 to pressure by the hand, and the excretion of a more or less red- 

 colored urine, but which does not contain any red globules. The 

 disease commences as a rule with diarrhea, which is sometimes 

 bloody ; the appetite is often preserved or hardly altered ; we 

 observe a general weakness and a slight increase of the tempera- 

 ture. After six to twelve hours the urine becomes of a pale-red 

 color, which turns more and more dark, till it resembles tar. It is 

 rich in albumin and hemoglobin ; micturition renders it foamy and 

 the ebullition transforms it into a brownish, gelatinous or doughy 

 mass. It frequently deposits a turbid sediment, which sometimes, 

 in the sheep, colors the wool red in the neighborhood of the 

 excreting orifice of the urine (urine spots). According to Renter, 

 the reaction of the urine is acid for the first three or four days ; 

 later it becomes alkaline (ammoniacal odor of tlie urine). It is 

 singular that the disease can be evolved without a red coloration of 

 the urine (Stockfleth) ; but this fact makes complete the similarity 

 of the disease with hemoglobinemia of the horse. The quantity of 

 urine, likewise modified, is increased from the start ; micturition is 

 frequent (pollakiuria) and painful (strangury) ; toward the third 

 day the diarrhea gives place to a persistent constipation which is 

 often accompanied by meteorism. The temperature rises to 41.8° 

 and even higher (Renter). 



To these symptoms motor troubles of the hind quarters are soon 

 added : staggering and heavy gait, pains on lying down and rising, 

 an arched back, very marked sensitiveness of the lumbar and 

 croupionic regions; we may observe convulsions, also spasms of 

 the posterior members, and at the time of micturition vermiform 

 movements of the perineum throughout the length of the urethra. 

 "Weakness of the posterior extremities gradually increases, and soon 

 it is impossible for the patients to rise. At times, when the affec- 

 tion has reached its last stage, œdematous tumefactions are observed 

 upon the head, neck, chest, etc. (Reuter) ; the mucous membranes 

 are injected or colored with a yellow red ; this icterus may become 

 generalized (Gerlach). Death is announced by the increasing accel- 

 eration and weakness of the pulse, by the depression of the subjects, 

 and lowering of the temperature ; it takes place from exhaustion 

 often at a time when the urine has recovered its normal color. 

 According to Stockfleth it is sometimes caused by a secondary 

 pneumonia. 



