384 CLINICAL VETERINARY MEDICINE AND SURGERY. 



The ascitic fluid, when freshly withdrawn, showed the appearances 

 denoted by the figure. The minute granules were of a fatty character ; 

 they dissolved in ether, which afterwards left a greasy stain if poured 

 over paper and allowed to evaporate. A few leucocytes were also 

 present. Within half an hour of withdrawal this milky fluid coagulated 

 spontaneously, forming a kind of soft curd, though if a few drops of 

 chloroform were previously added it remained fluid and without per- 

 ceptible smell for fourteen days. During that time it separated into two 

 distinct layers, an upper thick creamy, and an under serous and clearer 

 layer. For the purpose of comparison a drawing of a specimen of milk 

 is appended. 



Mr. Jno. A. W. Dollar's case, Veterinarian, 1895, p. 403. 



CHYLOUS ASCITES IN THE CAT. 



93. A male cat first seen on the 28th September, 1893. 



In June its abdomen was abnormally large, and afterwards increased 

 in size. The animal showed occasional dulness, lay down on its side 

 and groaned ; at other times it seemed quite well. Before enlargement 

 appeared the cat used sometimes to vomit after a meal, but this 

 symptom afterwards disappeared and the appetite became ravenous. 

 As the owner refused to have it killed, five grains of potassium iodide 

 were given night and morning, and in a fortnight the abdomen almost 

 regained its former dimensions, but began to refill again immediately 

 treatment was stopped. Killed on 6th November. 



Autopsy. — The abdomen contained three pints three ounces of 

 fluid indistinguishable from cow's milk. The lacteals in the lower part 

 of the mesentery were distended with chyle, but no rupture or abnor- 

 mality could be detected in them. The thoracic duct between the 

 heart and receptaculum chyli contained a little pale-pink lymph ; both 

 it and the receptaculum chyli appeared intact. The blood-vessels of 

 the omentum and mesentery were much congested, those of the 

 peritoneum less so. The liver was fatty ; the other organs w^ere 

 normal. 



Microscopically the fluid resembled ordinary chyle. It contained 

 no epithelium and yielded neither sediment nor cream when passed 

 through the centrifugal machine. 



Mr. H. Gray's case, Jonrn. Conip. Path, and Therap., 1893, p. 375. 



CONSTIPATION. 



94. A four-year-old setter, suffering from constipation, which had 

 resisted purgatives. 



According to the statement of the person in charge of the dog the 

 condition had existed for nearly three weeks. The animal was left in 

 the School for treatment on the 21st January, 1898. 



It appeared to be suffering from severe abdominal pain, and from 

 time to time made expulsive efforts. On manipulating the abdomen 

 an enormous, very hard mass was felt, formed by the rectum distended 

 with faeces. 



Attempts were made to evacuate the rectum by curettage, but the 



