382 THE EXCRETIONS: 



most cases it has a strong alkaline reaction, and contains a 

 large amount of carbonate of ammonia, which frequently in- 

 terferes with the action of heat on the albumen. 



In some cases I observed that a beautiful rose-red tint was 

 produced by the addition of nitric acid, of which I shall speak 

 more fully in my observations on the stools in cholera. Typhous 

 stools are sometimes tinged with blood. 



In melaena blackish pitchy blood is mixed with the faeces, 

 which sometimes consist entirely of that substance. I have 

 previously described the peculiarities of the blood. (See Vol. I, 

 p. 317.) 



In catarrhus intestinor. the intestinal mucous membrane 

 acts very much the same as the mucous membrane of the re- 

 spiratory organs in pulmonary catarrh. The secretion is at 

 first checked,, then very much increased, and, finally, after 

 secreting thick and tough mucus, returns to its normal con- 

 dition. 



In simple diarrhoea a thin muco-aqueous yellow, or yellowish- 

 brown discharge follows the evacuation of the true faeces. 



In bilious diarrhoea the stools are also liquid, but they are 

 generally of a greenish colour, and possess so strong an acid 

 reaction as to produce excoriation of the anus. 



In dysenteric diarrhoea a large quantity of gray or greenish 

 mucus tinged with blood, is discharged. In diarrhoea lactan- 

 tium, masses are discharged which are not unlike chopped eggs : 

 they have a strong acid odour, and exert a corroding effect on 

 the vicinity of the anus. 



In Asiatic cholera it is well known that an extraordinary 

 quantity of watery fluid is discharged by the intestines. 



Bulk found that the evacuations in cholera had an alkaline 

 reaction, that they contained albumen, and that they were en- 

 tirely devoid of the ordinary odour of faeces. 



Hermann, 1 on the contrary, found that they had an acid 

 reaction, and resembled the vomited matter, in which he de- 

 tected free acetic acid. The ordinary reaction of the stools in 

 cholera is, however, alkaline, and this was observed in a veiy 

 severe case of sporadic cholera that fell under my own observation. 



According to Vogel's observations, the stools in this disease 

 resemble turbid whey : the fluid has a powerful alkaline reaction, 

 and effervesces on the addition of an acid. On distilling a por- 



1 Poggend. Annalen, vol. 22, p. 161. 



