NationalLibraryOfScotland/medical-history-of-british-india huggingface dataset:
14
not uniform, when it is marbled, there are points where stasis has occur-
red with rupture of the capillaries and hæmorrhages. The congested
state of the integument and of the various organs which explains the
coloration already mentioned is itself produced by the action of the blood,
which becoming altered is irritant, over excites and paralyses the vaso-
motor nerves, from which results a dilatation of the capillary vessels and
congestion, which is followed by an exosmotic movement leading to
effusion of the blood plasma and numerous cellular elements.
The hyperæmia which takes place on the mucous membranes is
always followed by hypersecretion, which shows itself by the production
of the morbid matter constituting a sero-sanguinolent or muco-san-
guinolent discharge. The catarrhal state is accompanied by a very
active epithelial desquamation ; this is a constant characteristic; it may
be regularly distributed over the surface of the body, or else it is more
profound at certain points.
Vascular ruptures are produced after the congestion ; and besides
these ruptures an infiltration due to exosmosis of the blood plasma
always forms in the sub-mucous connective tissue. This infiltration is
more or less pronounced and is very manifest in certain organs (abo-
masum and small intestine), and it explains the turgescence which the
mucous membranes present.
The exosmotic movement gives rise not only to the passage of
cellular elements to the surface of these mucous membranes, but it also
establishes an inflammatory condition ; the cellular elements proliferate,
and the cellules so formed at the surface of the inflamed part undergo
rapid granulo fatty degeneration or are transformed into pus elements.
The condition of the cadaver is variable, according as the animal
has died a natural death or has been slaughtered before the disease
has run its course. During the course of Rinderpest emaciation rapidly
comes on, commencing at the hind quarters.
The eyes are bleared, the nasal discharge purulent, saliva fœtid and
thick, the diarrhœa flux more or less abundant. After death we note
more or less emaciation ; the natural orifices are soiled with morbid pro-
ducts which flow from the living animals; the cadaver exhales a
characteristic odour of a very fœtid nature. The eyes are more or less
dark coloured and are bathed in a mass of purulent matter. Eruptions
are visible on the skin, besides pustules, phegmonous tumors, etc.
Subcutaneous œdema exists, more abundant at the depending parts.
In the subcutaneous connective tissue we find gas when the disease had
present symptoms of pulmonary and subcutaneous emphysema. The
inner face of the skin is always more or less reddish-yellow in colour, and
black and incoagulable blood flows from the cut vessels when the
disease is advanced. The subcutaneous connective tissues are congested
reddish-yellow in colour, presenting dark patches of brown or black
15
ecchymosis; these changes also exist in the interstitial connective
tissue of muscles in the perinervous and perivascular tissues. The meat
will then present special characters when the animal has succumbed to
the malady. The articular synovial membranes and the tendinous ones
have a wine-coloured, brownish, uniform or spotted hue, and contain a
sanguinolent serosity.
The muscles are sometimes little or not at all altered, but in those
animals which have died of the disease they are profoundly changed,
softened, their fibres altered, some having undergone colloid or granu-
lar degeneration. Certain oviform bodies which are regarded as the
ova of entozoa are sometimes met with in the muscular fibres, but
their real nature has not been yet satisfactorily decided. In the sub-
stance of the muscle we may meet with ecchymoses, red-yellow colour,
brown or black patches, more particularly in the muscular interstices.
None of the above diverse changes have any real pathognomonic
value. The true lesions are those met with in the digestive apparatus;
these are numerous, occurring from the mouth of the anus or through-
out the whole of the digestive tract. We find a very intense state of
congestion and an uniform or patchy coloration which is particularly
well marked in the abomasum, in the neighbourhood of the pylorus,
and in the small intestine. Everywhere the infiltration is very abundant.
The catarrhal and the inflammatory state evince themselves by a
hypersecretion of muco-purulent matter, accompanied by swelling
and desquamation of epithelium, so that the granular degeneration of
the cellular elements is brought about by the exosmotic movements
or results from the cellular proliferation. In the mouth we find very
characteristic lesions in Europe. The lips are always swollen more or
less; their connective tissue is infiltrated. The tongue is hypertro-
phied ; the buccal membrane is swollen. The mouth exhales a fœtid
odour and contains a thick, viscid, very sticky muco purulent, fœtid
saliva, rich in degenerated epithelial cellules, in embryonic elements
and pus cells. The epithelium is swollen, thickened and softened ; it
is easily detached, and is desquamated more or less profoundly in
certain more or less numerous places; it detaches itself in some regions
such as the pad, lips, internal surface of the cheeks, inferior face of
the tongue, etc., under the form of pellicles or plaques or of yellow or
grey grains, a number of which are present in the saliva. The points
from which the epithelium has been detached are the seat of intense
congestion, from which results an exudation which raises the epidermis
and causes it to become detached. In fact the points at which conges-
tion has left the derm bare look congested, brownish or black in colour,
and sometimes, but rarely, the points are transformed into ulcerated
wounds. The derm of the mucous membrane is first changed, even
before the epithelium becomes so; it is much congested, and if the red
16
coloration is not easy to see, this is due to the thickness of its covering
At points where the epithelium is thinner the derm appears reddish-
yellow in colour, brownish-black or marbled. There is always swelling
and infiltration of the mucous membranes and connective tissue. The
follicles and glandules of the mucous membranes are hypertrophied
and congested; their secretion is more abundant and the follicles may
open out and become ulcers.
These various lesions also appear in the pharynx, the epithelium of
which is swollen and easily detached. The pharyngeal mucous mem-
brane is congested and the seat of catarrh; it is covered with a purulent
mucus; the sub-mucous tissue is thickened and infiltrated, and the
glandules are hypertrophied. These alterations are sometimes met with,
but to a less degree, even in the œsophagus, rumen, reticulum, and
omasum. They are particularly frequently encountered in the rumen.
The epithelium is thickened and becomes detached; the mucous mem-
brane is uniformly congested or presents ecchymoses, spots, aborizations,
intramucous hæmorrhages or sub-mucous extravasations; the submu-
cous connective tissue is infiltrated and thick.
The peritoneum is hyperæmic, reddish, sometimes spotted, and con-
tains a reddish-yellow serosity. In the abomasum the lesions are very
varied and numerous; they contain a mucous material viscous greyish,
yellowish or reddish, fœtid and very rich in cellules of epithelium,
in embryonic cellules and in purulent cellules; when the product
is yellowish-red the congestion is very intense. The gastric mucous
membrane is the seat of a very pronounced catarrhal state which exists
at the surface of the membrane and in its glandules. The thickened
epithelium swollen and softened, desquamates easily, is detached
en-masse and leaves veritable plaques uncovered, which are sometimes
transformed into ulcerated wounds. These denudations of epithelium
are most marked at the summits of the folds of the mucous membranes
and in the neighbourhood of the pylorus. The derm is evidently congest-
ed; it is red, reddish-yellow, or brownish in colour. The coloration is
irregular and has often a marbled appearance, that is to say, that spots or
plaques more deeply coloured and more or less numerous are observed
on the surface of the mucous membrane. Hæmorrhages sometimes
occur under the epithelium and raise it; they may also occur in the woof
of the submucous tissue.
These various lesions (spots, hæmorrhages, etc.) are principally seen
in the vicinity of the pylorus and on the folds of the mucous membrane.
We frequently meet with sphacelated plaques in the pylorus, or conges-
tion of the mucous membrane leading to superficial or deep mortification
of that membrane in the neighourhood of the pylorus. These plaques
are more or less extensive and ordinarily few in number; they are dark
coloured, and are sometimes already in course of elimination and
17
surrounded by a line of demarcation. At other times separation is com-
plete and a wound or ulcer remains, the tissue of which is actively congest-
ed. The summits of the folds of the mucous membrane sometimes present
superficial ulcerations. The gastric mucous membrane often has a
cribbled aspect from the changes in the glandules which are inflamed,
congested, more salient, and have their orifices enlarged.
The sub-mucous tissue is much infiltrated. In the small intestine we
find a muco purulent or caseous, greyish-yellow, or red material, exhaling
a fœtid odour and very rich in elements. This material covers the whole
of the intestinal mucous membrane ; at the level of the solitary glands it
is thickened, more caseous and adherent. The mucous membrane and its
glandular apparel are manifestly in a state of catarrhal inflammation.
The epithelium thickened, swollen and softened, easily desquamates
and is detached in small patches. The derm is vividly congested; it
has a reddish tint or is brownish or black ; its coloration is irregular,
and spots and points of a darker colour show themselves, especially at the
summit of the folds of the mucous membrane; we observe at its surface
and in its thickness more or less extensive points or patches of
hæmorrhage ; an abundant exudation, more or less extensive points or
patches of hæmorrhage ; an abundant exudation exists in all points,
particularly at the follicles and Peyer's patches ; the sub-mucous tissue
is infiltrated ; the mucous membrane thickened.
We sometimes find mortified patches similar to those met with in the
abomasum, and these plaques are either adherent or in course of
elimination; at other times they have given rise to ulcers with con-
siderable loss of substance. The alteration of the solitary or agminat-
ed glands may also give rise to ulcers. The intestinal glands are
hypertrophied, but what is most remarkable in the lesions of the small
intestines is assuredly the alteration in the solitary follicles and Peyer's
glands. The closed follicles are the seat of a very pronounced inflam-
mation, the characters of which vary according to the period of the disease.
They are at first hypertrophied, more salient and surrounded by a zone of
hyperæmia ; they are the seat of a very intense fluxionary movement and
an exaggerated proliferation; they contain a large quantity of cellular
elements which are always undergoing granulo fatty degeneration. They
thus form so many small centres or caseous nodules, which soon open to
evacuate their contents into the intestine ; we also often observe besides,
as we have already noticed, ulcers which have been formed in this fashion.
In a second phase the epithelium is ruptured and the follicles so
opened evacuate, more or less completely, their caseous contents into the
intestine. Sometimes the product, caseous and yellow, still adheres in
larger or smaller quantity to the surface which has secreted it, and we
then observe the presence of a yellowish matter at the centre of the
cupuliform wound which is the result of ulceration of the follicle. At
C
18
other times the product has been completely removed, and the ulcer
remains clearly cupuliform. In the third period, then, the follicles are
transformed into characteristic ulcerations, the borders of which are
salient and somewhat indurated ; they are always encircled by a reddish
areola, which may, however, be brownish or black.
The hyperæmic zone which encircles the follicles is reddish at the
commencement, but becomes later brown or black in colour, and is seen
in this state when the disease has been of some days' duration. Peyer's
patches are hypertrophied, always covered with a greyish viscous
material which is produced in abundance and may completely hide
them. They are surrounded by an areola which is first red, then brown
or black. The elements which compose them present the same altera-
tions as the analogous changes in the mucous membrane. The follicles
are hypertrophied and hyperæmic, and give to the patch the aspect of a
fragment of skin ; they are turgid, sometimes ulcerated, and may present
the same characters as those which are disseminated on the surface of
the mucous membranes. The villosites are hyperæmic and their
epithelium is often desquamated. Brown pigmentation, or even black,
is seen in the solitary glands around the agminated patches and the
ulcerations; we see it also at other points of the mucous membrane
under the form of spots, plaques, etc. This pigmentation by degrees
replaces the red coloration of the commencement; it shows itself when
the disease has lasted for four or five days, and is consequent on
modifications which occur in the colouring matter of the blood.
In other parts of the intestine (cæcum colon, rectum) we observe
alterations much resembling those of the mucous membrane of the small
intestine. We also find a muco-purulent, viscous, very adherent greyish-
yellow or reddish material rich in cellular elements.
The epithelium is swollen, softened, and in course of desquamation;
the mucous membrane is hyperæmic and the sub-mucous tissue is
infiltrated. In the cæcum we sometimes meet with a caseous material
of a fibrinous appearance exuded and adherent to the surface of the
mucous membrane at several points. This material presents itself under
the form of filaments, and if we detatch it a denuded point remains
which is greatly congested ; it appears to be produced by an exudation
which is established from certain ecchymosed plaques.
The liver may present certain alterations, being sometimes yellow or
earthy yellow in colour and its cells undergoing degeneration.
The mesenteric glands are hyperæmic and congested ; they are red
or brownish coloured and softened.
The mucous membrane of the respiratory passage is more and more
altered.
The pituitary is hyperæmic, reddish yellow ; its tint is uniform or
marbled with darker spots, points or hæmorrhagic plaques ; it is
19
catarrhal and covered with a yellowish muco-purulent and greenish
coloured product; it is thickened and its sub-mucous tissue is infiltrated ;
its epithelium is desquamated, and it sometimes presents wounds with
loss of substance and covered with a pseudo membranous product.
On the laryngeal mucous membrane as also the tracheal and bron-
chial, we find the same alterations (hyperæmia, uniform or marbled
coloration, catarrhal condition, muco purulent products, etc.)
The lung is more or less hyperæmic, and its interlobular connective
tissue is the seat of a more or less abundant exudation. There is
pulmonary œdema and sometimes more or less extensive interlobular
emphysema. The bronchial ganglia are tumefied, hymeræmic, reddened
and softened.
The pleuræ have a reddish icteric tint either uniform or spotted;
they contain red coloured serosity.
The kidneys are sometimes tumefied, hyperæmic, softened and
friable. The vesical mucous membrane is injected and turgid. The
utero vaginal mucous membrane is congested, infiltrated, thickened
uniformly red as spotted and catarrhal. The mammary glands are flabby
and infiltrated.
The brain, spinal cord and nerves present more or less vivid hyperæ-
mia and an exudation into their connective tissue.
The lesions of the circulatory apparatus are little pronounced at the
commencement.
The blood, at first but little changed, undergoes
important changes during the course of the malady. It becomes black
and loses its coagulability at the end.
The white corpuscles increase in number and " b onnets " are present
in it, the signification of which is at present not well understood. The
pericardium is congested, reddish coloured and spotted ; it contains sangui-
nolent serosity. The heart is yellow, pale coloured and softened ; the
endocardium offers ecchymosed patches, which also exist in the substance
of the heart ; the interior of the cardiac cavity and of the vessels is red
and icteric. In all organs the capillary network is relaxed, turgid, and
hyperæmic. The pathogeny of all the lesions is explained by the
alteration of the blood. The altered circulatory fluid acts on the
elements and on the vasculo motor nerves paralysing them; the vessels
then dilate and blood stasis occurs which results in the exudation,
infiltration, and dissolution of the coloured cells. At the surface of the
integument where exudation is active we observe a catarrhal state
accompanied by a ploriferation of the cellular elements and their rapid
degeneration.
Etiology contagion.—Rinderpest is a malady which always deve-
lops by contagion ; this is pretty well established at the present day;
it is absolutely false to say that it may develop spontaneously. In
Eastern countries like India it exists as an enzootic and perpetuates
C 2
20
itself by contagion. Reynault thus gives a résumé of his conclusions :
" Rinderpest propagates itself exclusively by the very active contagious
properties which affected animals ; the products of their excretions and
their debris when dead possess properties which impregnate other animals,
people, and things which have touched or approached them, their
excretions or their debris, and which these may transport to other
animals. It is only when they have been exposed to contagion, when
they have been brought into contact in some way with one or several
of the impregnated agents, that our animals can contract Rinderprest.
But these agents are numerous when sick animals and healthy are
living in the same fields or only in neighbouring fields, in the same
stables or in adjacent ones, frequenting roads, or drinking the same
water, mixing one with another on the highways or at fairs or
markets, etc. They are always dangerous, but at the same time easy
to avoid, when sick and healthy animals inhabit fields of farms or
villages a little removed from each other, if all communication what-
soever is not completely suspended between the animals, the people
and things which after touching or approaching the animals and
places affected, approach and touch shortly afterwards healthy animals."
Contagion being recognized as the sole cause of Rinderprest, we must
study with care the nature and characters of the contagion and
endeavour to determine the mode and conditions of its transmission.
Cantagion, as we have said, is the cause of Rinderpest, as has been
clearly proved by numerous observations and from the fact that we can
transmit it from one animal to another.
It is permanently located in certain portions of India and the steppes
of Russia, and in these countries it is relatively benign, so much so in
fact that the animals attacked sometimes appear little sick or not at all,
and in this way it often happens that a dangerous animal, or one suffer-
ing from the disease, may be transported to a country or place and
disseminate the disease amongst healthy animals. This very frequently
happens in India, especially in those parts of the country where it is
the custom to drive away the apparently healthy animals from an
infected village to other grazing grounds where they may come in contact
with other healthy animals, and for this reason it is that this mode of
proceeding has to be condemned. From the above facts it will be evident
how very easy it is for the disease to be spread from place to place.
Contagium.—The contagium of Rinderpest exists in the whole
organism, in all the solids and liquids, in the fluids and products of
normal secretions, in the lymph, blood, saliva, urine, milk, tears, etc.
It is abundant in the products of pathological secretions, in the dis
charge from the nose, tears, in dysenteric and diarrhœic materials, etc.
All the products of a diseased animal are virulent; also the products of
the bones, muscles, organs, normal fluids, blood, lymph, milk, serosity,
21
morbid products, etc., contain the contagium and may propagate the
disease.
The nature of the Rinderpest virus seems to have been determined
according to the later researches in Russia, and it appears to be believed
that it is a parasite of the bacterian order.
Semmer in 1871-74 observed the presence of a micrococcus in the
organs of animals attacked with Rinderpest. The same observation
was made by Klebs in 1872, who considered that a micrococcus was the
active agent in the production of the disease. This micrococcus, which
is found in the saliva, and is fixed in the epithelium determining its
softening, gives rise to salivation, extends in the glands and passes into
the vessels, where it forms heaps and provokes stasis, hæmorrhages, etc.
Semmer, like Klebs, had found micrococci in the blood, tissues,
secretions and excretions, and had considered them as the contagious
elements of the disease. Placed in contact with the mucous membranes,
these micrococci penetrate into the blood, multiply, are arrested in the
capillaries, determine stasis, extravasations, hæmorrhages, spread in the
tissues and lead to changes. Semmer and Archangelski have estab-
lished the role which these micrococci play in the production of the
disease. Having experimentally transmitted cattle plague to the
sheep, they have found micrococci in the ganglia of the animal after
death and have sown them in sterilized broth and cultivated them in
contact with filtered air at a temperature of 37° C. A cultivation at the
third generation inoculated into a sheep gave fever, after which the
animal resisted the effect of the inoculation of a second and a first
generation heated for an hour to 46°—47°C. A second sheep inoculated
at the commencement with a cultivation at the second generation had
simple elevation of temperature, and after recovery resisted virus of the
first cultivation. Five months afterwards these two sheep were inocu-
lated with fresh virus at the same time as a calf and a fresh sheep :
the two inoculated sheep were not sick ; the new sheep became sick,
but recovered; the calf died of Rinderpest. The virus taken from the
dead calf was inoculated into the three sheep but caused no disturbance ;
since then however a calf inoculated with cultivated virus died of
the disease.
The conclusions which may be drawn from these experiments are—
that the contagium of Rinderpest is a micrococcus, which can be culti-
vated and attenuated by cultivation at a certain temperature and in the
presence of filtered air. It is killed by—15° to—20° C and by 55° C
(131°F.).
Kolesnikou has found micrococci and bacilli, also recurved "baton-
nets," in the blood; bacteria and long filaments furnished with spores in
the mucous membrance of the stomach, intestines, mouth and in other
organs.