64 
Comparisons. — In Texas fever, hemoglobinuria, carceag, and canine piroplasmosis, 
anemia is reported as present and in many cases as pronounced or intense. If 
“spotted fever” is a piroplasmosis, the action of the parasites in respect to anemia is 
far below the action of other members of the genus Piroplasma. 
CONSISTENCY AND COLOR. 
Gwinn (1902) took blood in five or six cases from the arm, and in all of them it 
Was found to be dark and thick, with the power of coagulation partly or entirely lost; 
it regained a bright scarlet color upon being shaken up with the air. These facts, 
taken together with the frequent eruption, the frequent complication of gangrene, and 
the fact that the whole system seems to be affected, naturally would lead one to sus- 
pect the blood to be the part mostly affected. He also speaks of “the really thick 
unoxygenated blood.” 
Wilson and Chowning (1902a, p. 133; 1903a, p. 64; 1904a, p. 38) state that when 
removed for examination the blood appears somewhat darker than normal, as well 
as somewhat less fiuid; on exposure to air the color brightens perceptibly. 
In the Bitter Root Valley cases of 1904 the dark, thickened condi- 
tion of the blood was a very prominent symptom. Not infrequently 
the blood was so thick and flowed so slowly as to be of some inconven- 
ience in making blood smears. In case 3, 1 cut into a blood vessel 
within fifteen minutes after death, and the blood was so thick that I 
had to add salt solution in order to draw the blood into a syringe. In 
case 11, the blood was so thick about 12 hours before death that the 
operation of bleeding the patient was performed with difficulty. 
Comparison. — For Texas fever. Smith and Kilborne (1893, p. 21) describe the 
blood as follows: “Another character of this disease, the most constant and valuable 
of all and of which the hsemoglobinuria or “ red water” is but a part, is the thinness 
of the blood. * * * Soon after the high temperature sets in the blood begins to 
grow thin, and after some days of fever it has become very pale and watery. * * * 
The difference between the drop of rich red blood issuing from a slight cut of the 
skin in healthy cattle and the thin, pale drop oozing from such a cut in Texas fever 
is very marked. This difference is due to the loss of red corpuscles which give the 
blood its characteristic color. Associated with this there maybe in some cases, a 
marked bloodlessness of the skin in the later stages. A number of small incisions are 
often required to obtain a few drops of blood. In some cases, shortly before death, 
the blood slowly trickles from a slight incision for some time before it is checked by 
the natural process of coagulation. 
“When freshly drawn blood is allowed to stand the serum forced out of the clot 
has in the acute stage a very dark-red color, indicating the presence of much color- 
ing matter in solution. As regards the coagulability, which some observers have 
regarded as feeble, we have no facts pointing in one direction. In a few cases the 
coagulation appeared retarded; in others it appeared to be normal in rapidity and 
effectivenes^s. As will seen further on, the condition of the blood must vary consid- 
erably from time to time. At one time it may contain the debris of destroyed corpuscles 
equal in number to one-tenth, or even one-fifth, of all circulating in the body. That 
under such circumstances its coagulability may be affected is evident. Frequently, 
however, the blood comes under observation when the destruction of red corpuscles 
has ceased, and the products have either been excreted or metamorphosed. In this 
way conflicting observations may perhaps be harmonized. In general, we may say 
that the coagulability of the blood is not much altered.” 
Starcovici reports the blood in hemoglobinuria as pale and lac-colored. 
