OAK-LEAF POISONING OF DOMESTIC ANIMALS. 31 
nose, has given stockmen the idea that they have a fever, but ordinarily, 
at least, the fever does not exist. They are anemic and often have 
upon the body swellings containing an accumulation of serum. 
The respiration remains about normal during the course of the 
sickness, but the pulse is weak and slower than in healthy animals. 
In fatal cases the pulse may become more rapid just before the end. 
The temperature in sick animals has a wider variation between 
morning and afternoon than in healthy cattle, the morning temper- 
ature being unusually low. This results in a lower average tempen- 
ature. This is well shown in figure 10, which gives the curve of 
temperature of cattle No. 770. 
Fig. 19.— A shinneried cow, showing a typical attitude. 
It may be noted that the symptoms, in many respects, resemble 
those of hemorrhagic septicemia, and it seems probable that some- 
times the two conditions have been confused. They can be dis- 
tinguished, ordinarily, however, without laboratory examination, by 
the fact that the high temperature and pneumonic conditions of 
hemorrhagic septicemia are absent in the oak cases. 
AUTOPSY FINDINGS. 
The characteristic pathological condition of the animals which die 
of oak poisoning is one of severe enteritis or gastroenteritis followed 
by an edematous stage. The mucosa of the small intestines and 
abomasum is usually badly inflamed and sometimes swollen, and 
areas and patches of congestion are usually present in the cecum and 
rectum. This congestion may even extend to the serous membrane 
of the intestines. 
