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On the 8th of October diarrhoea set in. At first this was very slight, amount- ing only to a softer and more pultaceous condition than is usually found in Chinese cattle.
On the following day the diarrhoea was more severe. The fæces were thin, black and fœtid and here and there streaks of blood were to be found.
This was accompanied by flakes and croupous looking casts of the bowel These were greyish yellow in colour, friable in consistence with an admixture of blood.
The animal was found dead on the morning of the 10th of October, 1903, and a post-mortem examination was held.
Post mortem Examination.—The skin and subcutaneous tissues were deeply congested.
The pericardium was reddened and contained a small quantity of blood-stain- ed fluid. Its visceral layer contained a number of minute hæmorrhagic extra- vasations specially along the course of the coronary vessels, the parietal layer also contained several irregularly shaped blood extravasations.
The heart was normal. No endocardial hemorrhages were found. The trachea was congested, the lungs were healthy and all the mediastinal lymphatic glands were deeply hæmorrhagic.
The liver, gall bladder, spleen, rumen, reticulum and omasum were healthy. The abomasum was in a condition of acute congestion. Towards its upper end and more particularly at its junction with the omasum, the mucous membrane was extensively ulcerated, the ulcers were of a distinct punched out appearance, they varied much in size, their edges were ragged and the centre of each contained a greyish white mass of necrosed tissue. Towards the pyloric end a similar con- dition existed, the ulceration, however, being less extensive and the ulcers smaller in size. Scattered throughout the whole area of the abomasum were numerous small hemorrhages into the mucous membrane. The duodenum and small intestine presented a condition similar to that found in the abomasum, the ulcers being scattered throughout its whole length. Extensive hæmorrhagic extravasations were found in the peritoneal surface of the small intestine. These continued along the tract of the blood vessels for a considerable distance into the mesentery. Around the ileo-cæcal valve the ulceration was well marked, the valve itself being very ragged. The cæcum was intensely inflamed and contained a solid cast of the mucous membrane occupying the whole lumen of the gut. It was greyish yellow in colour and very friable in consistence. Throughout the whole area of the mucous membrane there was extensive ulceration, necrosis, and hæmorrhagic extravasation. The large intestine and the rectum were found in a similar con- dition.
The mesenteric lymphatic glands were generally enlarged and hæmorrhagic. The kidneys were normal.
The urinary bladder was congested and its mucous membrane covered with a delicate, greyish white and readily detachable exudate.
The peripheral lymphatic glands were generally markedly pathological. The precrural, prescapular, and inguinal glands on both sides of the body were deeply hæmorrhagic. Both parotid and the left submaxillary glands were hæmorrhagic. The right submaxillary gland was enlarged and contained a large amount of mucoid looking material.
The animal was preguant, a 3 months' male fœtus being found in the
uterus,
The uterus was normal.
The post-mortem examination of the fœtus showed only a few hæmorrhages into the visceral layer of the pericardium. All other organs and tinues were normal. The micro-organism could not be found in the foetal tissues.
The characteristic micro-organism was found microscopically in the blood and lymphatic glands and subsequently obtained in pure culture.
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