a simple secondary fever produced by the dead material from the surface
or superficial suppuration, and by the oxidization and absorption of the
colloid mass contained in the tissues. The skin may suppurate or slough
more or less over the areas of greatest tension or where it is irritated
by blows or pressure. The great swelling about the head may by closure
of the nostrils interfere seriously with breathing. Internal edema may
occur in the throat, lungs, or intestines. Septicemia, or blood
poisoning, may result from anasarca.

_Terminations._--The simple form of the disease most frequently
terminates favorably on the eighth or tenth day by resolution or
absorption of the effusion, with usually a profuse diuresis, and with or
without diarrhea. The appetite remains good or is at times capricious.

Death may occur from mechanical asphyxia, produced by closure of the
nostrils or closure of the glottis. Metastasis to the lungs is almost
invariably fatal, causing death by asphyxia, Metastasis to the
intestines may cause death from pain, enteritis, or hemorrhage.

Excessive suppuration, lymphangitis, and gangrene are causes of a fatal
termination by exhaustion. Mortal exhaustion is again produced by
inability to swallow in cases of excessive swelling of the head.

Peritonitis may arise secondary to the enteric edema, or by perforation
of the stomach or intestines by a gangrenous spot. Septicemia terminates
fatally with its usual train of symptoms.

_Alterations._--The essential alterations of anasarca are exceedingly
simple; the capillaries are dilated, the lymphatic spaces between the
fibers of the connective tissue are filled with serum, and the
coagulable portion of the blood presents a yellowish or citrine mass,
jellylike in consistency, which has stretched out the tissue like the
meshes of a sponge. Where the effusion has occurred between the muscles,
as in the head, these are found dissected and separated from each other
like those of a hog's head by the masses of fat. The surface of the skin
is desquamated and frequently denuded of the hair. Frequently there are
traces of suppuration and of ulceration. The mucous membrane of the nose
is found studded with small, hemorrhagic spots, sometimes red, more
frequently brown or black, often coalesced with each other in
irregular-sized patches and surrounded by a reddish zone, the product of
irritation. If edema of the intestines has occurred, the membrane is
found four o