THE LIVER. 393 



from chill, or exposure. In very acute cnscs the period of congestion 

 may l>e so short as to escape notice. 



808. Symptoms of slight derangements. 



Slight derangement of the Liver is often indicated by irregularity of 

 the appetite. The animal feeds well one day and will not feed the next. 

 The skin is rough, dry, harsh, and itchy, and the mucous membranes are 

 yellowish in colour, owing to retention in the blood of the material which 

 should have been formed into bile, or from re-absorption of the bile due 

 to some obstruction in its proper channel. 



809. Treatment. 



A little saline medicine, or some slight purgative followed by more 

 careful feeding and proper exercise, or half a drachm of calomel with a 

 little ginger every day for three or four days, will generally effect a cure. 

 The derangement is often spontaneously relieved by a slight attack of 

 diarrhoea. 



810. Congestion of the Liver. 



If the slight symptoms indicated above are neglected, and the derange- 

 ment is allowed to continue for a length of time, or in other cases 

 without any such premonitory symptoms, Congestion (often followed by 

 inflammation) may take place in the organ. 



The attack, however, generally comes on gradually. The animal is 

 dull and indisposed to move ; the appetite fails and the bowels become 

 disordered ; the eye and mucous membranes assume a more decidedly 

 yellowish tint ; and the faeces are hard, scanty, light coloured, and foetid. 

 Great uneasiness is evinced on the application of pressure to the right 

 hypochondriac region. The breathing in general is not much affected, 

 but there are frequent fits of blowing, and there is also a hollow cough. 

 The pulse is full, soft, and compressible. The tenderness arising from 

 a diseased state of the liver often causes the animal to favour his right 

 fore-leg in action. 



811. Treatment. 



In Congestion of the liver, the bowels must be acted on from time to 

 time, according to the strength of the patient, by purgatives ; and such 

 agents should be used as will in addition specially affect the liver, and 

 cause an increased flow of bile. With this view saline purgatives, such 

 as four ounces of Epsom salts, may be administered once or twice a day ; 

 or calomel may be given in doses of thirty grains with two drachms of 

 extract of gentian daily, until the congestion is relieved. Fomentations 

 followed by mustard rubbed occasionally over the region of the liver have 

 often a marked effect in relieving the congestion. The diet should be 

 sparing in quantity, easy of digestion, and somewhat laxative. 



In the later stages, when the strength begins to fail, tonics may be 



