DISEASES OF THE LIVER. 515 



What to do. — Some authorities recommend bleeding and purgatives, 

 except when it is a symptom of influenza. In case tlie animal is fat, 

 bleeding would be an advantage. Follow it with No. 37, given in doses 

 of two or three tablespoonfuis in soft feed, three times a day. Let the 

 food be light and rather sparing. 



When there are liver troubles, as a complication of influenza, it is not 

 safe to give them any special treatment. In such cases, treat for influ- 

 enza, as elsewhere given. 



II. Hepatitis, or luflammation of the Liver. 



This may be either acute or chronic. It is very rare in the lower ani- 

 mals, among which it is most often seen in old horses. The inflamma- 

 tion may have its seat either in the covering membrane, known to anato- 

 mists as "Glisson's Capsule," or in tlie glandular portion itself. It may 

 lead to abscesses, or to a hardening or softening of the organ. We will 

 treat, first, of the acute form. 



How to know it. — There is marked loss of appetite, and dullness of 

 the eye ; the patient usually remains standing, but hangs his head ; the 

 manure, passed in small balls, is of a dark reddish-brown color, and 

 sometimes very much mixed with bile, covered with a slimy mucous 

 matter ; the urine is scant and high colored, and there is tenderness of 

 the right side. 



What to do, — III the acute form, give early, as a mild purgative, No. 

 23, and follow it with this: 



No. 78. 2 Ounces chlorate of potash, 



1 Quart water, 

 Mix. 



Give four ounces (about two wine-glassfuls) three times a day. Feed 

 on light diet. 



The chronic form may follow the acute, or it may exist as an original 

 disease. It gives rise to material changes in the liver, which may become 

 enlarged and softened, or diminished in size and indurated and hardened. 

 In those cases where it comes on gradually, and exists as an original dis- 

 ease, it is the result of want of proper food, or a process of gradual 

 starvation, and tends to a fatal termination. If the food is insufficient 

 and unsuitable, the fact will be shown by a poverty-stricken appearance 

 of the animal generally. 



What to do. — Give a complete change in every way possible — location 

 and altitude, as well as in the quality and quantity of food. 



m. Ceroma, or Fatty Degeneration of the Liver. 



This is usually seen in old horses that are very fat. The liver becomes 

 large and soft, and the hepatic cells becoming filled with fat, the secretion 



