ve
actively, the step is restricted and cautious, sudden motion causes
grunting, the attitude is constrained, the feet are drawn somewhat
together, the back is arched, the face has an anxious expression. If the
disease is of several days' standing, there is likely to be soft swelling
(edema) beneath the neck, in the dewlap, and under the chest, between the
fore legs. Breathing is short and difficult; it may clearly be painful. The
pulse is rapid, 80 to 120 per minute. The muscles quiver as though the
animal were cold. Rumination and appetite are depressed or checked. The
dung is hard, and to void it appears to cause pain. These symptoms usually
develop gradually, and, of course, they vary considerably in different
animals, depending upon the size and location of the foreign body and the
irritation it causes.

As a matter of course, in such cases treatment is useless, but when it is
possible to diagnose correctly the animal could be turned over to the
butcher before the flesh becomes unfit for use; that is, before there is
more than a little suppuration and before there is fever. Knowing that
cattle are prone to swallow such objects, ordinary care may be taken in
keeping their surroundings as free of them as possible.

PERICARDITIS.

Inflammation of the pericardium (heart bag) is often associated with
pneumonia and pleurisy, rheumatism, and other constitutional diseases, or
with an injury. It also occurs as an independent affection, owing to causes
similar to those of other chest affections, as exposure to cold or dampness
and changes of the weather.

_Symptoms._--It may be ushered in with a chill, followed by fever, of more
or less severity; the animal stands still and dull, with head hanging low,
and anxiety expressed in its countenance. The pulse may be large, perhaps
hard; there is also a venous pulse. The hand against the chest will feel
the beating of the heart, which is often irregular, sometimes violent, and
in other instances weak, depending in part upon the quantity of fluid that
has transuded into the pericardial sac. The legs are cold, the breathing
quickened and usually abdominal; if the left side of the chest is pressed
on or struck, the animal evinces pain. There may be spasms of the muscles
in the region of the breast, neck, or hind legs. After a variable time
swelling may also appear in the legs and under the chest and brisket.

In those animals in which the heart sounds may be heard somewhat
dist