230 
FOOT AND MOUTH DISEASE. 
that the average temperature is 104°, but the range is from 
102° to 107°. 
In a few hours after the manifestation of symptoms of 
illness, vesicles filled with a limpid fluid appear on the inside 
of the top lip, on the upper part of the tongue, on the 
palate, on the teats, between the digits, and often on the 
outside of the coronet just above the hoof, and sometimes on 
the soft parts of the heels. Those in the mouth are 
generally few in number and of large size ; their situation is 
on the top of the tongue and on the palate, as far back in 
many instances as the soft palate. An examination of many 
heads of diseased cattle which were slaughtered has quite 
established the fact of the frequent existence of abrasions 
on the palate bearing a general resemblance to those found 
in cattle plague. 
Sheep seldom suffer much from disease of the structures 
of the mouth in eczema, the principal affection being in the 
feet; vesicles occur between the digits and sometimes on the 
outer side of the foot, from which point separation of the 
hoof commonly commences. In some parts of the country, 
sheep have recently been very severely attacked with the 
disease, which in some instances has assumed the unusual 
form of an aphthous affection of the mouth and tongue. 
Pigs are generally affected in the feet and on the muzzle, 
and sows suffer especially from the development of vesicles 
in the udder. Notwithstanding these minor differences, the 
affection is essentially the same in its general character in all 
the animals which are liable to its attack. According to the 
severity of the disease the symptoms of the succeeding stage 
will be more or less marked. 
When mouth and foot complaint prevails in a benign 
form, the morbid action subsides in a few days ; the vesicles 
burst and discharge their contents ; the exposed surface 
becomes covered with yellow exudation and the abrasion is 
quickly healed ; the lameness ceases ; the milk, which had 
been lessened to the extent of perhaps one-third less than the 
ordinary quantity, returns ; the animal regains its appetite, 
and soon recovers the lost condition. 
Between this mild form of the disease and the most viru- 
lent there are an infinite number of grades, which depend 
upon constitutional peculiarities and variation of surrounding 
circumstances. Sometimes the bursting of the vesicles is 
followed by ulceration and extensive loss of structure. The 
hoofs slough off, and even the ligaments of joints in the 
vicinity of the foot become disconnected from the bones, 
causing open joints. Deep abscesses form in the mammary 
