Catarrhal Icterus {Jaundice^ of Solipeds. 463 



It is needless to enumerate all the concomitant symptoms of 

 jaundice which will be better noticed under the different disorders 

 which determine it, for a list of which see the causes. 



The gravity of the affection will depend on the dangerous 

 nature of these concurrent diseases, and the destructive changes 

 in the liver and blood rather than on the depth of color in the 

 textures. 



CATARRHAL ICTERUS (JAUNDICE) OF vSOLIPEDS. 



Causes : infection from duodenum through biliary duct. Suppression of 

 bile favors. Must}', heated, mow burnt fodder, over feeding, irregular 

 feeding, or watering, over work, worms, fatigue, damp stables, duodenal 

 congestion, gall-stones, concretions, pancreatic tumor, ascaris in bile ducts, 

 distoma, infection through portal vein, toxins. vSymptoms : of duodenal 

 catarrh, icterus, yellow, viscous, odorous urine, dullness, weakness, somno- 

 lence, tardy pulse and breathing, costiveness, or diarrhoea, pale, foetid 

 stools. Duration : 2 to 3 weeks or longer. Lesions : duodenitis, distended 

 biliar}- and pancreatic ducts, calculi, enlarged softened liver and kidneys. 

 Diagnosis : icteric symptoms in absence of fever. Prognosis : usually 

 favorable. Treatment : laxative diet, pasture, soiling, ensilage, roots, fruits, 

 water freely, exercise, antisepsis, elimination, laxatives, cholagogues, 

 diuretics, calomel, salines, nitro-muriatic acid, podophyllin, castor oil, aloes, 

 tartar emetic, bitters, sodium bicarbonate. 



Causes. This may be said to be an extension of infection 

 from the duodenum through the bile ducts. The microbes of 

 the intestinal canal become acclimatized by living in the bile- 

 charged contents of the duodenum until they acquired the power 

 of survival and multiplication in the biliary ducts themselves. 

 The well-known antiseptic qualities of the bile, constitute a 

 powerful barrier to this, yet the power of adaptation on the part 

 of certain germs is greater than the defensive action of the bile. 

 The attack is however mostly in connection with indigestion or 

 muco-enteritis, and a more or less perfect suspension of biliary 

 secretion, so that this defensive action is reduced to its minimum 

 and the germs can a.scend the bile ducts in the mucous secretion 

 as a culture medium, and by interference with the resumption of 

 a free hepatic secretion, they succeed in .safely colonizing them- 

 selves in the mucosa and hepatic parenchyma. Whatever, there- 



