ASTHENIC H^MATURIA. 47 



excessive, small and repeated doses of opium must be re- 

 sorted to. 



Asthenic hcematuria is a disease characterised by debility 

 and prostration of the vital powers, coupled with a urine of 

 a red colour, varying in intensity. The symptoms are other- 

 wise not very different from those of sthenic hsematuria. 

 There is a greater tendency to anaemia, and this is indicated 

 by the pallor of the visible mucous membranes, cold and 

 clammy mouth, venous pulse, palpitating heart-beats, and 

 cold extremities. Jaundice is not an unfrequent complication. 



On opening the body the tissues are found to be more or 

 less pale, the kidneys healthy but pale, the liver usually con- 

 gested, but the blood throughout the body watery and fluid, 

 ecchymoses are not unfrequently met with on the serous 

 membranes. 



This disease has been recognised abroad as connected with 

 damp lands and wet seasons. It occurs in hot weather, and 

 when food is scanty and of inferior quality. It is seen always 

 on pasture lands, and never in stall-fed animals, except in 

 Britain, where it occurs amongst cows fed on turnips grown 

 on damp land. 



Red water in cows, which prevails to so great an extent in 

 different parts of the United Kingdom, is essentially a form 

 of asthenic haematuria. 



The cause is almost invariably feeding on turnips that have 

 been grown on damp, ill-drained land, and very often a change 

 of diet stops the spread of this very troublesome disease in a 

 byre. Other succulent foods, grown under similar circum- 

 stances, may produce the same symptoms; tending to disturb 

 the digestive organs and blood-forming process. 



In the course of my investigations as to the cause of red 

 water, I have found that it is unknown on well-drained 

 farms and in dairies where turnips are used only in a 



