434 DISEASES OF THE LIVER AND SPLEEN. 



the Veterinary School, established by M. Hamont, at Abou- 

 Zabel, in Egypt, climate would appear to be likewise in- 

 fluential in their production among horses^. Added to 

 their in frequency, diseases of the liver are, with one or two 

 notable exceptions, so obscurely marked in horses, as to be 

 either exceeding difficult of detection during life, or else to 

 pass on totally unobserved until after death. Frequently, in 

 the course of our post-mortem examinations, do we meet 

 with the liver in a diseased, nay, even disorganized con- 

 dition, without any suspicions having been entertained 

 during life of the gland being in a morbid state. Other 

 instances occur of hepatic being mistaken for pulmonic 

 disease. 



HEPATITIS. 



We use the word hepatitis, to denote an inflammation 

 either of the capsule of the liver, or of its internal substance 

 or parenchyma. In fact, inflammation may attack the 

 capsule, and thereto principally confine its action, or it may 

 originate in and ravage the interior of the gland. Further- 

 more, in respect to the part in which it is seated, it may be 

 either partial or general ; and in respect to its character, 

 acute or chronic. 



ACUTE HEPATITIS. — In the present instance we may 

 take the epithet acute to imply that form of disease which, 

 from its activity or intensity, is clearly recognisable in prac- 

 tice, in opposition to other forms which present no marks 

 whatever, or but very vague and indistinct ones, of their 

 existence. The pain the animal must feel, even in the 

 acute disease, is but of an indefinite character; while in 

 the chronic, it is but rarely we are able to detect any sign 

 of pain whatever, or even indeed apparent inconvenience. 



Symptoms. — The horse is perceived to have become dull, 

 inactive, moping, and probably to cough occasionally : he 

 has a heavy head, a drooping lustreless eye, loathes his food, 

 and evidently feels unwell. He seems as though he were 



*■ An official report of this is contained in ' The Veterinarian,' for 1839. 



