stomach, or
sudden changes of diet may cause this disease. Want of exercise predisposes
to it, or feed which is coarse and indigestible may after a time produce
it. Feed which possesses astringent properties and tends to check secretion
may also act as an exciting cause. Feed in excessive quantity may lead to
disorder of digestion and to this disease. It is very likely to appear
toward the end of protracted seasons of drought; therefore a deficiency of
water must be regarded as one of the conditions which favor its
development.

_Symptoms._--Diminished appetite, rumination irregular, tongue coated,
mouth slimy, dung passed apparently not well digested and smelling bad,
dullness, and fullness of the flanks. The disease may in some cases assume
a chronic character, and in addition to the foregoing symptoms slight
bloating or tympanites of the left flank may be observed; the animal
breathes with effort and each respiration may be accompanied with a grunt,
the ears and horns are alternately hot and cold, rumination ceases, the
usual rumbling sound in the stomach is not audible, the passage of dung is
almost entirely suspended, and the animal passes only a little mucus
occasionally. Sometimes there is alternating constipation and diarrhea.
There is low fever in many cases.

The disease continues a few days or a week in the mild cases, while the
severe cases may last several weeks. In the latter form the emaciation and
loss of strength may be very great. There is no appetite, no rumination,
nor peristalsis. The mouth is hot and sticky, the eyes have receded in
their sockets, and milk secretion has ceased. In such cases the outlook for
recovery is unfavorable. The patient falls away in flesh and becomes
weaker, as is shown by the fact that one frequently finds it lying down.

On examining animals which have died of this disease it is found that the
lining membrane of the fourth stomach and the intestines, particularly the
small intestine, is red, swollen, streaked with deeper red or bluish lines,
or spotted. The lining of the first three stomachs is more or less
softened, and may easily be peeled off. The third stomach (psalter)
contains dry feed in hard masses closely adherent to its walls.

In some cases the brain appears to become disordered, probably from the
pain and weakness and from the absorption of toxins generated in the
digestive canal. In such cases there is weakness and an unsteady gait, the
animal does not ap