736 SPOEADIC DISEASES. 



into the test tube about a draclim of strong sulphuric acid. 

 This should be done so as not to mix the two liquids. If 

 biliary acids be present there will be observed, at the line of 

 contact of the acids and urine, after standing for a few minutes, 

 a deep purple hue. This result may be taken as a sure indication 

 that the jaundice is due to obstructed bile ducts. On the 

 other hand, the absence of this phenomenon, and the occurrence 

 of merely a brown instead of a purple tint, although in the 

 earlier stages of jaundice equally indicative of suppression, is 

 no indication of the cause of the suppression, which must be 

 gleaned from other circumstances. — (Harley on Jaundice.) 

 Non-secretion of bile may arise from a variety of causes :- — Is^. 

 Innervation ; 2d. Disordered hepatic circulation ; od. Absence 

 of secreting structure, as in atrophy, the invasion of tubercle, 

 and the degenerations. 



Jaundice from reabsorption is arranged as follows : — 1st. 

 Obstruction by foreign bodies within the bile duct ; 2d. Obstruc- 

 tion by inflammatory tumefaction of the duodenum or of the 

 lining membrane of the duct, with exudation into its interior; 

 od. Obstruction by stricture or obliteration of the duct ; 4zth 

 Obstruction by tumours closing the orifice of tlie duct or growing 

 in its interior ; bth. Obstruction by pressure on the duct from 

 without ; ^th. Obstruction by parasites. 



Looking upon jaundice, which is manifested by yellowness 

 of the mucous membranes, as symptomatic of disease, it wiU 

 be necessary, before the practitioner prescribes any particular 

 treatment, that he should examine the urine in order that he 

 may determine whether it arises from any cause obstructing 

 the flow of bile into the intestinal canal, or from a disordered 

 condition of the liver itself, consequent upon which true bile is 

 not secreted. 



Treatment. — In jaundice from suppression, if the cause of the 

 suppression be congestion or inflammation of the' liver, the 

 treatment recommended for those conditions is to be pursued. 

 If, on the contrary, those conditions be absent, liver stimulants, 

 as calomel with aloes, may be administered. In the dog, podo- 

 pholyn, with hyoscyamus; or benzoic acid, from 10 to 15 

 grains, divided into three doses, daily. 



As repeated cathartics are not admissible in the lower animals, 

 benefit is often derived from taraxacum, nitro-muriatic acid, and 



