DISEASES OF THE STOMACH AND INTESTINES. 201 
by admixture of blood M'ith the matter discharged ; but this 
symptom Me have failed to notice under such circumstances, 
while, on the other hand, we have observed blood mingled 
Muth the dejections when no ulceration existed. Rupture of 
a few smaller vessels would, of course, explain this occur¬ 
rence ; nor would the s 3 ^mptom be particularly alarming 
nor diagnostic of ulceration, unless it were tolerabl}^ constant. 
Derangement of the liver appears to be general in those 
instances of obstinate diarrhoea so frequent among cattle. 
The disease is distinguished at first by a simple fluid state of 
the evacuations, persisting in spite of the usual domestic 
remedies; the appetite for some time continues unaffected, 
nor is any great diminution of milk or loss of condition 
apparent. Shortly, hou’ever, the secretions suffer ; the skin 
becomes harsh and adherent, the milk is diminished, the 
appetite irregular, and loss of condition perceptible; ordinary 
medicines are still employed, without any permanent result; the 
animal probably is turned out to take its chance, and remains 
until it assumes the condition of a living skeleton, and ulti¬ 
mately dies from exhaustion ; the termination, hov^ever, may 
be long in arriving, especially if the animal feeds tolerably 
well. We have known diarrhoea of this kind continue for 
seven or eight months, without cessation, before death took 
place, the patient meanwhile eating a moderate quantity of 
provender, and seeming to suffer no pain, although invariably 
languid and spiritless. 
In post-mortem examinations of these cases appearances not 
unlike, in many points, those of rot in sheep \vill be noticed ; 
for example, entire absence of fat in those situations M’here in 
health it is most abundant; infiltration of serum into the 
areolar tissue, the prevalence of a yelloM’ish tint of the internal 
structures, pallor of muscles, with softening and discoloration 
of the liver. The membrane of the intestines is usually in¬ 
jected, and covered M’ith a thick, discoloured mucus, which 
adheres so firmly to the epithelium as not to be easily 
removed vuthout it. The bile is generally thin, semi-trans¬ 
parent, and dirty in colour. The term ^^rot^^ is often applied 
to the disease, and not inaptly; probably it is to be preferred 
to the name dysenterywhich is sometimes employed 
to distinguish this form of diarrhoea. The presence of bubbles 
in the matter voided from the intestines is considered by 
some to be a very serious symptom; but, in reality, there 
seems to be no foundation for such an opinion, if we may 
judge from the instances in which we have noticed it. 
Treatment of chronic diarrhoea will be varied according to 
the predominance of certain pathological elements. 
