ECZEMA. 



519 



Symptoms. The local symptoms generally start two or three 

 weeks after beginning the feeding with malt, sometimes sooner, 

 when this diet is given exclusively or in very large quantity. 

 They consist, first, in a redness or tumefaction of the skin of the 

 pastern ; recumbent animals have some trouble in raising them- 

 selves to the standing position ; the movements of the affected 

 members are constrained, and the walk is stiff. Vesicles which 

 are often confluent and torn appear on the painful hyperemic skin ; 

 and moist surfaces are also formed where the derma is exposed. 

 Later these lesions dry up and become scabby ; the hairs are erect ; 

 the extremity of the legs is congested. The eruption generally in- 

 vades the whole pastern and extends as far as the knee or the hock ; 

 it may even extend upward on the internal side of the thighs as far 

 as the testicles in the male and the udder in the female. In certain 

 •cases it spreads on the trunk (abdomen, chest, neck, shoulders, 

 back, etc.), which is at times covered w^ith impetiginous scabs. The 

 tumefied skin becomes wrinkled, cracked, and creviced, and a puru- 

 lent liquid exudate oozes, which accumulates and forms more or 

 less thick scabs. Besides these local alterations, general troubles 

 •exist. At the outset we observe a slight fever, inappétence, a de- 

 layed defecation, congestion, a hypersecretion of the conjunctiva, 

 also salivation, etc. To these symptoms are added an obstinate 

 diarrhea, weakness, and emaciation. When the disease is not con- 

 trolled, the condition becomes aggravated and the animals die from 

 exhaustion, septicemia, or pyemia. In entering stables where 

 eczema exists we may sometimes perceive a peculiar mouldy odor. 



The mortality is very variable. In Galicia, during the year 

 1885, Baranski recorded a loss in the proportion of 20 per cent (70 

 deaths in 380 animals). Serious cases are especially observed in 

 unclean and badly ventilated stables, more rarely in well-kept 

 places ; they are mostly found in old animals which have little 

 resistance and in those living in permanent stabling. Some sub- 

 jects are affected as often as six times in a single year. 



In general, eczema produced by malts is a benign disease, cured 

 in two or three weeks ; the scabs gradually become detached, the 

 hairs fall, and the epidermis is left bare. When the eruption is 

 neglected, however, it may be complicated with erysipelatous, 

 phlegmonous, or gangrenous dermatitis, which is accompanied 

 by superficial eschars, and sometimes by septic or pyemic infec- 

 tion. 



