James Law

“ More usually it comes on insidiously, the lung accommodates itself to the gradual increase of the fluid and it is only when the accumulation has become excessive that the symptoms become prominent. In heart or kidney disease the filling of the legs and infiltrations of the eyelids and of the skin beneath the chest and abdomen are precursors or early concomitants of the disease, but in all cases the accumulation in the chest is to be measured by the height of the line of dulness on percussion and the extent of chest surface giving forth no respiratory murmur on auscultation. ”

“ Often in a weak and bloodless patient the heart sounds can be clearly heard at several yards distance from the animal. The intensity of the sounds is diminished in debility when not associated with palpitation, in atrophy of the muscular substance of the heart, in hypertrophy of the muscular tissue of the heart with diminution of its internal cavities, in broken wind when the emphysematous lung more completely envelopes the heart, and in cases of extensive liquid effusion into the pericardium which prevents the apex of the heart from striking against the side of the chest. ”

“ Prognosis is a more complicated question for the veterinarian than for the physician. The latter must pronounce on the malady, whether it is likely to follow a regular or irregular course, whether it will last short or long, whether it will be curable or incurable, and if curable whether recovery would be complete or partial. For the veterinarian there is in addition the question of economy. The veterinary patient is, as a rule, of value, only if he can be rendered sound, and a partial recovery may be even worse than a fatal result, since the subject remains as a ruinous charge on his owner. ”

“ With the access of the hot stage the characteristic symptoms of lung disease are manifested, at first resembling those of congested lungs, but less severe than those given under that head. There is a distinct increase of the body temperature; the visible mucous membranes are suffused with a blush; the expired air feels hot upon the hand; the breathing, 30 to 40 per minute, is short and accompanied by much lifting of the flanks— (labored) ; the cough is deep as if coming from the depth of the chest, but not so hard nor so painful as in bronchitis ”

“ The craving for pure air, so strikingly shown by the position which the animal assumes, ought never to be ignored nor neglected. We do not advocate the system of the late Professor Coleman who kept pneumonia patients in open sheds exposed to all vicissitudes of temperature winter or summer, and yet the fact that many recovered under such treatment as well as under a more rigorous system, having been turned out into the open fields amidst frost and snow, ought to open the eyes of all to the incomparable value of fresh air in this disease. ”

“ Dilatation of the right cavities of the heart is one of the most common heart diseases of the horse. It is an almost constant condition in advanced broken wind, and is a frequent concomitant of hypertrophy and an occasional one of atrophy of the heart. Its usual direct cause is some obstacle to the free escape of blood from the cavity affected. Thus in broken wind the difficulty of the circulation through the lungs causes accumulation in the pulmonary artery and right ventricle of the heart, the walls of which are distended because of the unwonted internal pressure. ”

“ In the ox the pulse is full, soft and regular, appearing to roll forward beneath the fingers. In the sheep and goat the pulse is small but with a peculiar quick or sharp beat. The pig’s pulse is said to be firm and hard. That of the dog and cat is firm and hard coming with a sharp impulse against the finger. In the dog, however, successive beats are not always of the same force and an intermission or complete absence of a beat is by no means an indication of disease of the heart or other serious malady. It often attends the slightest excitement in a perfectly healthy animal. ”

“ Faulty food and feeding in the domestic animals are chargeable with many diseases. Stock often fall off in condition, in the hands of one feeder, when the same food given with regularity and judgment by a more careful feeder would keep them in the highest health. Hay and grain which is musty and filled with cryptogams and their products, are common causes of disorder of the stomach, the kidneys, the nervous system or of general nutrition. Smut and ergot at certain stages of their growth or grown under given conditions cause nervous disorders, abortions, and gangrene of the extremity. ”

“ The disease usually affects at once the larynx and pharynx so that the symptoms are somewhat modified. In the simplest form there is only a small, hacking cough, a flow of saliva from the mouth and some loss of appetite but no fever. In more acute cases the breathing is loud and wheezing, the cough, soft and rattling, is followed by a free discharge of mucous from the mouth, the nostrils and eyes are red, the muzzle dry, the pulse accelerated and full, the throat tender to the touch, and swallowing difficult, part of the food and drink being rejected through the nose. ”

“ The first form tends to develop into new structure, the second to disintegrate and decay. The tendency to one or other form depends largely on the strength or weakness of the system’s health, on the deficiency or excess of corpuscles in the exuded fluid, and on the distance of the latter from living tissues and blood supply. Much also depends on the predisposition of the genus, the tendency to suppuration in lymph being in a descending series from horse, ass, and mule, through ox and sheep, to dog, pig, and finally, the bird, in which latter suppuration is quite exceptional. ”

“ But after the subsidence of the acute symptoms, the process of liquefaction and absorption is not always complete, a portion of the exuded product becomes vascular, is developed into fibrous tissue and remains permanently impervious to air. Such is the state of the lung in many cases of thick or short wind in horses when these have occurred as a sequel of pneumonia. A horse suffering in this way has the breathing habitually accelerated and is thrown into a state of great distress by any attempt to make him perform hard work such as galloping, dragging a load up hill and the like. ”

“ In the cow, lying with the udder on a cold stone may be the starting point of mammitis. The effect of sudden chill is well exemplified in the great prevalence of diseases of the respiratory organs at the change of the seasons in spring and autumn when the vicissitudes of temperature are greatest, and the system unprepared by habit, to bear the sudden change. Again it must be noted that exposure to cold has a tendency to cause disintegration and solution of the red blood globules, and that certain animals are especially susceptible to this influence. ”

“ In diseases of the heart and lungs it is liable to occur from the obstruction of the pulmonary circulation and from the depression of the respiratory nervous centres. After death the lungs are found gorged with dark red—almost black—blood, which likewise distends the right heart and systemic veins, and all mucous and serous membranes have a dark red, congested aspect. When breathing has been arrested by mechanical violence there are, first, active contractions of the respiratory muscles, but no loss of consciousness ”

“ The chicken which had proved refractory to an ordinary dose of anthrax virus, was dipped in water at ordinary temperature until the heat of its body was reduced, and then it fell an easy victim to the anthrax bacillus. In the same way the person who recklessly exposes himself to wet and chill falls a ready victim to intermittent or yellow fever from which he would otherwise have escaped. Debility from another cause, such as bruise or laceration, favors deep-seated invasion by pus cocci, and a resulting abscess, from which the patient would have remained free, but for such traumatism. ”

“ When the heart is enlarged the pulse strong and the circulation full and free, apoplexies or hemorrhages especially on the brain or other soft organs where the resistance is least, are liable to occur. When on the other hand the circulation is weak from atrophy or fatty degeneration of the heart, or from insufficiency of the valves there is a tendency to coldness of the extremities, and to passive congestions with their consequences:—serous effusions, dropsies, and difficult breathing. ”

“ As the effusion increases, the heart’s sounds, previously strong, become first muffled, then more and more distant until they may become altogether imperceptible. The difficulty and oppression of the breathing increases, the nose is protruded, the eyes more rigidly fixed, and the face more haggard; a venous pulse, apparently due to the compression of the heart and large veins by the fluid, is seen in the lower ends of the jugulars, and the animal obstinately stands as indeed the solipeds do all through the disease. ”

“ In the carnivora the heart lies more directly in the median line of the chest. It appears as if tilted forward so that its apex is directed backward and its base forward, while the body of the organ lies directly over the breast bone. The lungs invest it on both sides preventing any approximation to the walls of the chest laterally, and it can best be auscultated by applying the ear over the sternum.
In birds the heart is situated in the centre of the chest and enveloped by lung tissue so that its exploration is about equally difficult at all points. ”

“ Pure hypertrophy rarely implies imminent danger unless dependent on some pre-existing structural disease which impedes the freedom of the circulation. If excessive, however, or if associated with dilatation the animal is short-winded and unfit for all but the slowest work. It predisposes to congestion or apoplexy of the lungs when its seat is the right ventricle, and to congestions and hemorrhage in other parts of the system, brain, kidney, lungs, liver, bowels, if in the left. ”

“ Of toxic agents borne on the atmosphere we see the compounds of arsenic, mercury and lead. Moisture and dryness of the air induce respectively a lymphatic constitution and low tone of health, and a nervous constitution and a tendency to neurosis, ophthalmias, and skin diseases. The pressure of the atmosphere has a profound effect on animal health as seen in the extreme troubles of the heart and circulation in the diving bell, and the respiratory, hæmorrhagic and brain affections of high attitudes. ”

“ When acute laryngitis passes into the chronic form all the symptoms subside except a slight nasal discharge, the cough, tenderness of the larnyx, and roaring. The cough is dry, short, and hacking, rarely soft, and is heard mainly when the animal feeds, when he leaves the hot stable for the cold air, and after drinking cold water. During exercise, it is equally excited, the cough becoming harder, and the horse extending his head and neck as if to disengage some body from its throat. ”

“ The action of cold on the surface of the body often leads to morbid states of the air passages as the result of nervous sympathy. A beast is subjected to a keen cold wind, is attacked with shivering, and inflammation of the chest supervenes. The result is rendered more certain if the wind is associated with rain and if the animal has been previously in a state of perspiration. A heavy coat of hair, a profuse perspiration, and a cold draught often combines effectively to produce respiratory disease. ”