e, however, will be found to be weak and thready in
character, but the appetite excellent, and, in fact, if it were not for
the loss of flesh and slight edema of the legs, there would be little to
show that the animal was sick. Unfortunately, however, this condition
does not continue for any great length of time, for again the
temperature is elevated; in the course of a few hours the thermometer
registers a still higher degree, the animal is dull and dejected, and by
the following day the visible mucous membranes present a yellow tinge;
large ecchymoses, dark in color, appear on the conjunctival membranes,
the action of the heart is irritable, the pulse full and quick, or at
times intermittent, and regurgitation may be observed in the jugulars,
the breathing is quickened, and the individual respirations are shallow.
On watching an animal in this condition it may be noticed that it takes
seven or eight very short inspirations, followed by a much more
prolonged and sonorous one; at the same time the breathing is more
abdominal than thoracic in character. On examination of the legs it will
be found that the swelling and edema have increased considerably, and
that on the under surface of the abdomen, where previously it was
confined to the sheath, it has now commenced to spread forward along the
subcutaneous tissue between the skin and the muscles. During the whole
of this time the appetite will have varied little, and the evacuations
will be only slightly, if at all, altered in character. In the blood a
repetition of the previous events takes place, the parasites make their
appearance and increase to a maximum and again suddenly or gradually
disappear, according to the length of the fever period. These periods,
alternating with and without fever, may go on for a considerable time.
The progress of the disease is variable and greatly depends upon the
condition of the animal attacked, the weak one succumbing very rapidly,
but each return of the fever brings with it, as a rule, an increase in
the severity of the symptoms. There is increased yellowness of the
membranes, fresh crops of petechiae on the conjunctiva, a collection of
gelatinous material at the inner angle, which at times becomes red in
color from an admixture of blood, and which on microscopic examination
is found to contain a varying number of the surra parasites; increased
swelling and edema of the extremities and abdomen, which now extends
between the fore limbs a