California Farmer and Journal of Useful Sciences, Volume 13, Number 22, 3 August 1860 — The Pleuro-Pneumonia Exudative. [ARTICLE]

The Pleuro-Pneumonia Exudative.

U. H. Dadd, V. S., in Am. Stock Journal.

nrscßii-Tios AND symptoms ok thk uisbasi. Thk locality of pleuro-pueiituonia exudative is within the chest, IBS parts affected are the lining membrane of the thoracic cavity and the thoracic viscera. The disease sometimes commences ou the pleural msmbranS which is found on the interior walls of the chest aud on the surfaco of the lungs —it then occasions much pain, ns in common pleurisy, and is accompanied hy ft deep seated nnd painful cough ; ns the disease progresses the chest becomes the scat of exudation of serum and lymph, the walls of the chest acquire a coating of lymph which undergoes the usual change nnd becomes organized into tough fibrinc, ami this becomes so firmly united to lite pleura, that it requires considerable force alter death to tear it off; not only does it occupy the pleura-costulis, but is also found on the diaphragm. As the water —serum —lymph and fibrous tissue accumulates, it gradually compresses the lung, on whichever side the foreign materials happen to occur, until the lung itself, if unaffected by the disease, is forced up into the superior or upper region ol the chest, anil finally the mechanical pressure is so great that the lung is forced into a solid ball not bigger, in some cases, than a man's fist, and under such circumstances some persons are led to suppose that the lung is not to be found—-"all gone."

It happens occasionally that while one side of tho chest is tilling up with serum, etc., the lung on the other side is being filled with exuded lymph, and is gradually undergoing solidification, so that after a while, the lungs fail to eliminate carbonic acid gas from thu blood and impart to it oxygen, and then the animal dies.

In some cases the disease first commences in a purely pulmonic form, effecting tbe substance of the lungs and then attaching the pleura ; whenever it occurs in what is called a "high inflammatory form," it usually runs a rapid course and ends in mortification of the Lungfl ; yet during my visits at North Brookfield, I have not seen more than two cases of mortification of the lungs. The disease sometimes occurs in the non-inflam-matory form, and iv character exudative, and lingers iv the system for months, yet during this period it may escape ordinary observation, and the owner of the animal may declare that there is nothing amiss with the creature. Such was the case with a young bull, killed a short time ago, and the young cow also, two out of the three animals purchased at Belmont last June. Very many of the animals slaughtered under the auspices uf the surgeons employed by the commissioners, had tumors in their lungs; these tumors consisted of portions of detached lnug, circumscribed spots, in which the disease in its active form originally existed, some of these so called tumors weighed from one to twenty-four pounds ! Whenever we fouud a tumor, it was always adhering to the chest, or rather the lining membrane of the same, and was enveloped iv a dense fibrous covering ur tunic, by which means nature preserved the integrity of the sound portion of the lung; the object iv uniting tbe tumor with tbe pleura, is to organize it with arteries and veins, which are thrown out from the pleura, so that the diseased mass may be absorbed by the blood, and carried out of the system by the excremcntitious vessels aud organs ; ami it is iv this way that nature by the silent operation of her own forces attempts, and finally very often succeeds, in curing disease. diseased spots or tumors are detached from the sound part of the lung by what is called the ulcerative process, and as fast as ulceration proceeds, the adjacent parti arc protected by deposits of fibrine which effectually seal up the open air cells and blood vessels, so that the tumor— originally real lung tixxur— -immediately escapes when the process is completed, and the part is cut into. Occasionally we find the lung or a portion of one or bo h lobes in a state of hepatization, which signifies liver-like; there are two kinds of hepatization, one is called red, the other gray ; on cutting through them they feel like liver, und when a portion is put into water it sinks. SYMI'TOMS OF THK IMKKASE. The obi saying is that "in dry times all signs fail," so it is witli exudative pleuro-pueumonia, when it assumes a mild form ; when it first appeared at llelmont, and afterwards at North Brookfield, it was in the acute form, and in spite of all treatment run a rapid course ; its symptoms were then somewhat uniform—for example, it was ushered iv by a short, dry, husky cough, and the animal on being urged to move showed symptoms of distress ; the respirations were accelerated ; the pulse <|uick and wiry ; the animal dull and listless ; the bow els constipated j the milk decreased in quantity und of a yellow tinge, and the appetite is not so good as usual. Now the disease has assumed a milder form, being mollified by passing through the systems of various herds, consequently the "signs fail/ yet let the disease be in ever so mild a form the creature sln>ws unthriftiness, appears dull and has a languid look ; the hair in some parts of the body stands on end; the respirations are quickened, as well as the pulse, yet the appetite is not impaired, in fact there is no complaint made about an animal's appetite except when the disease commences in the form of pleurisy iv which case very little food is eaten, and if the animal be pressed in the spaces between tbe ribs it shows signs of pain. It will generally be fouud that iv the acute stage there is considerable tenderness all along the Spine, and tbe moment a person's band is placed in that vicinity the affected creature will shrink. The horns and extremities are alttrnately hot and cold ; urine dark colored and scanty ; fieces darker than usual. Vet when the disease takes on tho incipient form, the work of destruction goes on in so mild a manner that it eludes detection, until auscultation or percussion reveals it. ArSCL'I.TATION AND rKKCrSHIOiV. On applying the ear to the sides of the sheet, if any nnrniHMOW sound be heard, such as a bellows murmur, or a strong tubular murmur, or a crackling sound, we may conclude that tbe lungs or their respiratory passages are diseased ; also should the respiratory murmur be absent, and on striking the sides of the chest a dense, almost solid sound be heard, then Wi may infer that the lung or lungs, as the case may be, are undergoing solidification. Let it be borne in mind however, tint the natural and healthy sound should resemble that of the air entering into a vast number of minute cells—having, as each cell becomes grad uuMy dilated, n soft, smooth, grating or crepitating sound; the term vesicular has been applied to this sound, because it is supposed to be produced by the entrance of air info the pulmonary vesicles, and it is very distinctly heard in the case of sound lungs where the walls of the chest are thinnest.

A roTiipie.-sed or solidilit-d lung gives the walls of tin- bronchial tubes an increased power of ti* brntiug lonnd, hence in such cases the ear ol* the auscul'at jr detects what is called tubular respiration. When a portion of lung is infiltrated or compressed, or when the cheat contaius serum, we get*

what is called yurrile or shrill respiration on the side opposite to that affected, in fact whatever is capable of preventing the free access of air into the minute air-cells of one lung imposes additional labor on tho other, hence the shrill sound or exaggeration of the respiratory murmur. When effusion into the chest is very great, or when the pleura becomes coated with lymph or fibrinc, or the animal has ft thick hide, or is very fat, then the respiratory murmur is feeble. l\reussion. —The application of percussion (striking various parts of the chest with the joints of the lingers) is sometimes of great value in detecting resonance or dullness of any part of the chest, yet when applied to the regions of the shoulder nnd along the back, which are covered with thick muscles, it is apt to fail in detecting disease. When we strike the walls of the chest, supposing the subject to he free from disease, we get a clear sound, but as we approach the liver on the right side which reaches as far forward as the third or fourth rib, from behind, we get dullness. Iv many of thu cases which 1 have had the privilege of inspecting at North llrookfield. I have on •lamination after death found the lungs in a State of hypertrophy (abnormally enlarged), and in nil such cases the sound elicited by percussion resembled that which would arise on striking a boiled podding contained in a bag; in fact the lungs w hen iv a stale of hypertrophy from this disease, ere they have lost their integrity of structure, feel almost like boiled padding. In pleuro-pneumonia, the lungs nre often emphysematous ; this gives rise to a, tympanic or windy sound, the lung is then unnaturally resonant—the extent of the resonance corresponds to that of the dilatation of the air cells ; on the other hand, should the lung be occupied by a tumor, such as 1 have just described, percussion will elicit diminution of clearness, and should the tumor have an adhesive connection with the inner wall ot the chest, the dullness will be very marked, or rather the absence of sonorous sound is complete. 1 have noticed that the autopsies reveal little, if any, derangement of other parts or organs of the body ; and I have made Up my mind, after conducting or assisting at over ono hundred autopsies, that if nny other organs of the body are affected the case is not "plcuro-pnciimoiiia exudative," the veritable malady Imported from Holland ill May, 1850.

tn the next number ofthll journal I propose to give the reader my views of tbe treatment and curability of this disease which is now occasioning such alarm in the infected district, and shall also discuss the subject of innoeulation.