Fatty Liver. 513 



plant in the liver of a horse. Megiiin records a case in which he found 

 some awns of barley which had ol)viously come from either the stoma(;li 

 or duodenum lying lengthwise in the gastro-hepatic ligament. In the 

 first case, the straw perforated the portal vein and caused thrombosis, 

 and in the second, death was due to hemorrhage. On three occasions 

 Cadeac and Blanc found a needle in the liver of dogs. One of these 

 showed symptoms resembling those of rallies. 



In the l)ile-ducts of oxen, pigs and horses large (luantities of sand 

 are sometimes found. This is due to the ingestion of dirty food. In 

 a case recorded bv Augenheister the greatlv dilated bile-ducts con- 

 tained 10 lbs. of sand.— (Guillebeau, Schw." A., 1900, XLII. 248.— 

 Miiller, S. B., 1903 260.) 



3. Fatty Liver. Hepar adiposum. 



{Fatty Degeneration and Infiltration of the Liver.) 



Etiology. Tlie following factors may lead to an increase 

 in the fat content of the liver : Very rich diet in the process of 

 fattening, which is best seen in birds, insufficient exercise, di- 

 minished oxidation in the body brought about by anemia. On 

 the other hand, the liver often liecomes fatty when there is 

 sudden wasting of an animal as in diabetes mellitus and in cer- 

 tain diseases which run a rapid course. In these cases large 

 quantities of fat are reabsorjjed from the fat-containing tissues 

 by the liver, and then gradually consumed. 



In many cases fatty liver is caused liy noxious chemical 

 materials which are either absorl)ed from the alimentary canal 

 or are circulating in the blood. The principal of these are the 

 bacterial toxins, fatty liver being a frequent lesion in acute 

 infectious diseases. Acute yellow atrophy of the liver is appar- 

 ently due to bacterial toxins. Certain poisonous plants produce 

 the same effect. Fatty liver may be associated with gastro- 

 enteritis, due to the ingestion of mouldy fodder. The effect 

 of lupines in this connection is remarkable. Of the mineral 

 poisons arsenic, antimony, lead and phosphorus are the prin- 

 cipal causes and especially the latter. The chief organic com- 

 pounds that cause fatty liver are carbolic acid and alcohol. 



Pathogenesis. Recent investigations have shown that in 

 the process of fattening, obesity, sudden emaciation and in 

 poisoning by various substances the fat is brought to the liver 

 either from the food material or from the adipose connective 

 tissues of the body. The noxious chemical substances cause a 

 sudden and extensive disintegration of the tissues with the 

 result that a large amount of the reserve body fat is in a 

 condition for absorption and this is stored up for a time in 

 the liver. These substances also have an effect upon the liver 

 cells rendering them inactive and thus unable to deal with the 

 fat brought to the liver or to oxidize the partly synthesized fat. 



The disturbance of the functions of the liver, owing to the 



