The Columbus journal., 1901-07-10

0ssso0nsy Ahssessse
Il u not uncommon when young
lambs or other young animals die and
are opened 70 md ahscesses In the liv-
er and these may be associated With
similar abscesses In the joints or else
where. The earliest experience Of the
writer with such abscesses was In the
lambs Of . 0ock Of in-and-inbred Bor-
der Leicester ewes. raised upon the
low lying. rich. alluvial soil in the
TIL valley Of Northumberland, Eng
land. The lambs referred to probably
showed al the ills that such weaken
ed animals are heir to. and many were
the discussions as to the nature and
cause OF the various lesions discovered
upon post mortem examination. The
White-nOsed lambs we're invariably the
seat Of all manner Of unsoundness.
and on general principles We were
strongly tempted to knock them on the
head at birth. 90 seldom did they sur
vive more than 4 few days. In most
OF these and In some Of the remaining
lambs. that were apparently healthy
for Z day or two we found, on opening
them after death. that the liver was
= mass Of pus, which in some had
burst, and In others remained enclosed
In q cyst. In the liver Of one lamb
there Was 4 large abscess. and some
smaller ones. The large one was ad-
herent to the diaphragm and had an
opening into the right side Of the chest
where extensive Inflammation and ad-
hesion Of the pleura had taken place
caused by tho fluid portion Of the alb
scess being discharged into the pleural
cavity. In others the entire liver was
dfsorgahiezd and the parts presented
the appearance of q mass Of c0rrup-
tion. For q long time We were at
loss to explain these assesses. and
shepherds consulted attributed them to
tuberculosis and thought that they
were inherited from the ewes and ex-
listed at time Of birth. Later on how
ever, we came to the conclusion, and
have no reason to think otherwise
since. that the abscesses are due 20
suppurative microbes-stryptococci-
which gained access to the
system at the raw navel cord.
The open umbilical vein pre-
sents highway, SO to speak. for
the carrying Of germs to the liver and
In all the cases thoroughly examined,
the navel cord was found to be inflam-
ed and discharging . thin pus. In some
instances the navel cord had shriveled
up and fallen OF, but an angry spot
remained and this offered q suitable
place for the lodgment and propaga-
ton Of the noxi0us germs. When the
germ gains entrance an abscess usu-
ally forms around the navel; pus is
generated and Is carried into the cir
culation In due course of time to form
fresh colonies In the liver or In the |
joints and We then have q typical
case Of "joint ILL., which Is not gener-
ally recognized as such. but is apt to
be considered rheumatism or tuber-
cular swelling. The raw navel Of ev-
cry young misunderstanding the hu-
man infant-should be most carefully
to. It 10 not merely neceS-
sary to cut and tie It to stop profuse
bleeding.
1t should be remembered that the
system Is wide open at this point, and
luther that the cord itself is bound to
and the products Of de-
absorbed into the system
Ire liable to produce blood poisoning
n Dus infection ThOnsa nda Of voun1
infants too-succumb
to such poisoning. due en-
irely to ignorance Of the subject.
hence We would most strongly advo-
ate the invariable application Of
trong antiseptic solutions to the ma
rel cord at time of birth and until 1t
8 entirely healed up. Any good disin-
ectant will do the work necessary.
FOR infants and lambs nothing is bet
er than mixture of one part Of iodo-
orm with six parts of boracic acid to
e applied to the navel upon antiseptic
otton retained in place by means Of a
andage and to be renewed once daily.
strong solution Of carbolic acid or
imilar disinfectant, one drachm in
light ounces of water. applied two or
hree times daily will also prove ef-
ective as q preventive, but the most
nective Of all is q strong solution of
sublimate in water. In addi-
ion to the application of medicine the
ambing pen. and similar places for
ther animals should be kept scrupu-
'usly clean.