ROYAL AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY OF ENGLAND. 2 '75 
pulpy ; but in numerous cases it is free from any pathological 
alteration whatever. Similar changes to those last referred to 
are sometimes found in the fourth stomach, but the first, second, 
and third stomachs seldom show any alteration either in appear¬ 
ance or structure. 
The liver is usually small in size, frequently pale in colour, 
soft in consistence, and granular in character. In some examples 
it is congested, red, and largely infiltrated with serosity, while in 
others it exhibits no perceptible alteration. The kidneys are 
small, soft in consistence, and easily broken down. In some cases 
they present a more or less congested state, but in other respects 
they are free from structural change. Only where the urine is 
retained for a long period, owing to muscular paralysis, is there 
any perceptible alteration in the bladder. In these instances the 
mucous layer is congested, thickened, and occasionally infiltrated 
with blood as the result of a rupture of its vessels. 
When parturition has not taken place, the walls of the uterus 
are generally thin, pale, and flaccid; but they present no per¬ 
ceptible indications of structural change. On the other hand 
in those cases in which parturition has been effected, either pre¬ 
viously or subsequently to the attack, the uterus exhibits patho¬ 
logical changes of the most varied and destructive character. The 
outer or serous tunic of the organ is covered more or less with 
pseudo-membranous layers of fibrine, which in places become 
united to corresponding portions of other viscera, more commonly 
to the rumen or paunch. The uterus is moreover of an intensely 
red hue and void of its smooth and polished aspect. The walls of 
the viscus are not contracted. The cavity contains a large 
quantity of dark-red or chocolate-coloured matter, consisting of 
spoilt blood, mucous, epithelial and inflammatory elements and 
the disintegrated remains of foetal membranes, The mucous 
membrane is swollen and soaked with sanguineous fluid, or the 
tissue is ploughed up by blood extravasation. In this condition 
it is soft, pulpy, and easily broken down. In such a state of the 
mucous layer the underlying tissues are always more or less 
infiltrated with serosity, and opened out in every direction, giving 
to the organ a thickened and rigid character, and at the same 
time rendering it soft and lacerable in all its parts. In some 
instances the vessels are plugged with dark coagula, and portions 
of the organ are in a gangrenous condition. The vaginal passage 
contains materials of the same nature as those existing in the 
uterus, and the structures composing its walls participate to a 
greater or less extent in the uterine changes. 
In nearly all cases the lungs exhibit a more or less congested 
condition. In some they are also uniformly oedematous ; and in 
others beset with haemorrhagic patches or points. Pneumonic 
consolidation is occasionally present, as are also embolic soften¬ 
ings and gangrene of smaller or larger areas of pulmonary tissue. 
The two last-named lesions are usually associated with extensive 
disease and disorganisation of the uterine walls. 
