THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



491 



opinion. The signs deserving most attention are the re- 

 markable aptitude to develop fat, followed by rapid destruc- 

 tion of that tissue and general wasting. 



Posl-moHem Appearances. — In subjects that have died 

 from the disease a singular flabbinoss and Icoseuoss of 

 texture is apparent. The areolar membrane is filled with 

 serous fluid, causing this soddened appearance. Dropsy of 

 the cavity of the abdomen is also frequently present ; the 

 firm red muscles of the healthy animal arc exchanged for 

 softened and pallid structure, although when the diseassd 

 subjects are killed and dressed iu cold weather a great deal* 

 of this is disguised. A very small portion of fat is found 

 iu any part of the body, even round the kidneys ; and what 

 remains is tough and frequently tinged with yellow. The 

 kidneys also partake in a remarkable degree of the generally 

 diminished colour; the lungs are usually congested, some- 

 times markedly so on the side which the animal has lain 

 after death ; frequently extensive tuberculous deposits are 

 seen. The liver gives in every case sutliciently clear indi- 

 cations of being the part most affected. In different sub- 

 jects we find various appearances. In the incipient stages 

 the gland is enlarged, and its deep chocolate tint is replaced 

 by a bright yellowish brown, interspersed with bright crim- 

 en spol£ — ecchymosis. In the more advanced forms we 

 have a mottled appearance, difllcult to describe, consisting 

 of a complicated mixture of a light brown oi' clay colour, 

 Avith yellow, crimson, and bluish-white ; sometimes the 

 glaud is shrivelled, and at others swollen, and occasionally 

 the organ is found ruptured. The gall-bladder and biliary 

 ducts cuutaiu a thick, muddy-looking bile, and floating in it 

 the " fluke," iu very variable quantities, from isolated 

 specimens up to countless numbers, the quantity not being 

 always iu proportion to the extent of the diseased condition 

 of the liver. It is worthy of remark, that whatever may be 

 the depth of colour mottliag the gland, the ground colour, 

 if we may so term it, is invariably lighter than natural : in 

 reality, the liver, like other texture, suffers a dimiuution of 

 its charscteristic tint. 



How far the liver is concerned iu these morbid cha.Tges, the 

 following remarks of Todd and Bowman may assist us to de- 

 termine : '■■ The question occurs to us, may the liver be a 

 source of supply of blood corpuscles, or may it contribute to 

 the production of basmatiue in adult life ? It has often struck 

 us that this question might be answered iu the affirmative, 

 while observing cases in which the process of the formation of 

 blood seemed greatly perverted, where no organic disease 

 cottld be detected beyond some degree of enlargement of the 

 liver. Patients suffering iu this way are pale, as if from loss 

 of blood, although no such loss has been experieuced ; their 

 nutrition is enfeebled, digestion impaired, and there is a slight 

 yellowness of the complexion, as iu cases of hepatic disease ; 

 and after death no lesion is discoverable but slight enlarge- 

 ment of the liver." If tiie conclusion that the liver supplies blood 

 corpuscles be true, all these symptoms are easily explicable, 

 and a new light is thrown upon the pathology of rot. One 

 point yet remains unsolved — the sudden aptitude to fatten 

 at the commencement of the disease, and the equally sudden 

 emaciation which succeeds. We have ascertained that the 

 liver forms both fat, and, what is almost identical with it, 

 sugar ; further, we have seen that the presence of bile renders 

 the mucous membrane more permeable to fatty matter. 

 Hence, if it be conceded that the first influence of the exciting 

 causes of rot is to stimulate the secretion of bile — and we have 

 every reason, from the symptoms, to believe this to be the 

 case — we perceive how a larger quantity of fatty matter may 

 be appropriated at the outset; a continuance of the disturb- 

 ance leads to defective secretion ; the bile loses its healthy 

 character ; its colour, consistence, and properties are modified ; 

 it is no longer capable of assisting in those important changes 

 by which the food is rendered fit for the purposes of the or- 

 ganism ; in all probability neither sugar, fat, nor blood corpus- 

 cles are formed; and thus pallor and emaciation are accounted 

 for. Thus by a chain of evidences, each one demonstrable or 

 established by the researches of the most eminent physiolo- 

 gists, we arrive at certain conclusions. First : We ascertain 

 that the liver is concerned, to an important eitent, in the 

 changes which matter undergoes during its assimilation ; that 

 it forms fat and sugar, and most probably blood corpuscles ; 

 and that the presence of its secretion, bile, in considerable 

 quantities, promotes the absorption of fatty matters. Secondly: 

 We ascertain that the disease of " rot" is at first charncterized 



by an excessive and unhealthy development of fatty matters, 

 and in the next place by defective formation, not only of fat, 

 but also of blood corpuscles, as indicated by emaciation and 

 loss of colour. We find in the symptoms during life, and in 

 the post-mortem examination, absolute evidence of disease of 

 liver. We have proof that in man defective action of the 

 organ is followed by paleness and emaciation, and coupling 

 this with the physiological fact that an energetic secretion of 

 bile is associated with the formation aud absorption of fatty 

 matters, the conclusion is inevitable that rot is a disease of 

 the liver, consisting in — 1st, Functional activity, or excessive 

 secretion, leading to the formation or deposit of fat. 2ndly, 

 Organic derangement, associated with perverted or diseased 

 secretion, leading to defective nutrition, in consequence of the 

 imperfect performance of those functions upon which the per- 

 fection of the constitution of the blood and the due supply 

 of fatty textures depend. 



In reference to the causes of rot, the sources of fallacy are 

 innumerable. Whatever is observed in association with the 

 disease seems to be generally assumed as the actual exciting 

 influence. The opinions quoted at the commencement of our 

 essay exemplify this position most perfectly. Some specula- 

 tions are puerile, aud deserve no notice ; others ate of suii- 

 cient weight to requite some consideration. Among the 

 letter the " fluke," as an almost invariable accompaiiiment of 

 the disease, ranks iu popular estimation first. 



In passing to a consideration of the influence of the fluke in 

 the production of rot, we wish to preface that chapter with 

 some few words from the German pathologist, Vogel, who, 

 speaking of the effects of parasitic animals upon the body 

 they inhabit, says : "The disease which accompanies their 

 presence is, however, invariably either an effect of their pre- 

 sence, and is called into existence by the influence which they 

 exert upon the organism, and by the reaction of the latter — 

 or the development of the parasites is, in the manner formerly 

 explained, first rendered possible by the presence of a disease ; 

 the parasite should never he idealified with the disease itself." 

 Influence of the Fluke in the production of "Rot.'''' 

 — The fact of a parasitic animal of whatever kind subsisting 

 upon any part of the organism of another animal is so revolt- 

 ing to our feelings, that we instinctively associate disease with 

 its presence, without pausing to inqiure what are the evidences 

 whichjustify such a conclusion. The range of natural pheno- 

 mena includes nothing more remarkible, and certainly nothing 

 more obacute, than this question of parasitic life, What 

 function these animals perform — whether they are always pro- 

 ductive of injury, or what part they play iu the economy of 

 nature — are points wi^ich deserve a profound consideration. 

 In the course of an impartial inquiry into the circumstances 

 under which they exist, we cannot avoid observing that they, 

 in many cases, produce no obvious ill effects. The hot in the 

 stomach of the horse is very rarely the cause of any disturb- 

 ance ; indeed, its presence is frequently unsuspected until the 

 time for its expulsion arrives. We are aware of isolated in- 

 stances of injury to the stomach ; but speaking geuerally, no ill 

 consequences ensue. Various kinds of worms infest the digestive 

 organs of many animals ; and, although some of them occa- 

 sion disturbance, it has often occurred to us to discover im- 

 mense quantities in the body of an animal which during life 

 has given very little evidence of derangement. Hydatids in 

 the liver commonly exist to a considerable extent, without 

 occasioning any particular change in the function of the gland. 

 In one very remarkable instance, lately brought under our no- 

 tice, as many as ten of these cysts {Echinococci) were found, 

 some of them as large as a good-sized orange. The horse had 

 for years performed a fair amount of work ; and beyond occa- 

 sional temporary derangement, had shown no symptoms of 

 disease. In the liver of the sheep, flukes are frequently found 

 iu connexion with an ordinarily healthy state of the organism 

 —certainly without any of the indications that accompany rot. 

 Iu estimating the liver-fluke as the principal cause of the 

 disease with which it is associated, the mind merely obeys its 

 natural bias : any evidence to the contrary will, therefore, be 

 met by an instinctive opposition. We ask, however, for a 

 little forbearance while we advance the arguments on both 

 sides. In favour of the conclusion that flukes are the cause 

 of the morbid changes, we have the fact of their presence 

 frequently in large numbers in the livers of sheep affected 

 with rot. In opposition to the conclusion, we have — lat. 

 The fact that they are found where no appearwices of rot are 



