DISEASES OF THE URINARY ORGANb. 873 



m. Incontinence of Urine, or Enuresis. 



This difficulty may be considered the opposite of that just considered : 

 the urine dribbles away involuntarily. 



Cause. — Paralysis of the muscular coat of the bladder and sphincter 

 vesietB ; calculi ; or pervious urachus after l)irth. 



What to do. — Give purgative No. 8, and follov/ it with one and a half 

 drachm doses of nux vomica, morning and night, in soft feed. If there 

 are calculi, remove them. If the case is a bad one, inject cold water into 

 the rectum, and give ten grains of powdered cantharides in soft food, 

 morning and night. 



IV. Albuminviria, or Albuminous Urine. 



This is the same as Bright' s disease in the human subject, and, in 

 strictness, is probably a blood disease. 



Cause. — The blood is impoverished, to a certain extent, by too much 

 and too long continued sameness of diet, in consequence of which there 

 is a deficiency of blood forming constituents, Avith a low, unas.siniilable 

 quality of albumen, which is excreted by the kidneys. This leads in time 

 to a degeneration of those important organs in two different forms, — the 

 large, white kidney, and the small, red kidney. The former secretes 

 very little urine, the latter great quantities of it. 



Albuminuria is most common in sections where turnips are the almost 

 exclusive diet. They cannot, alone, support the system in a healthv 

 condition, and the impairment of the vital functions thus resulting, 

 seems to affect the kidneys more than other organs, and in this peculiar 

 way. It is generally regarded as the effect of bad management and 

 injudicious feeding. 



How to know it. — In those rare cases where the trouble arises from an 

 injury, the l)ack will be arched and the feet drawn together, indicating 

 injury to the loins ; but in ordinary cases, the most common and charac- 

 teristic symptom is the stretching at full length, getting the hind and 

 fore feet as far apart as possible. Generally, there is constipation, a 

 straddling gait, stiffness, and disinclination to move. The urine, which 

 is thick, mucilaginous and dark colored, often fails to produce albumen 

 on the application of heat (a common test), but with tincture of galls, 

 solution of bi-chloride of mercury and alcohol, will always separate some. 

 Death often results from paralysis of the hind parts, blood poisoning and 

 coma. 



What to do. — Examine the bladder ; if full, evacuate it as described 

 for retention. Give recipe No. 8, and injections, to overcome the con- 

 stipation, and afford a complete change of diet, cutting short on green 

 food, except grass, which should be from, uplands, but allowing more 



