IMMODERATE THIRST. 477 



six gallons, and then his thirst seemed slaked only for a short time. He 

 was continually staling, but evinced not the least tenderness when pressed 

 over the region of the kidneys. 



This continued seven or eight days. He ate the green meat, but 

 seemed to be losing all relish for corn ; he got thinner, but still worked 

 with his usual spirit. His work, however, was only short runs, rarely 

 extending beyond ten or fifteen minutes : had it been otherwise, he must 

 have failed, as he staled enormously every time he stopped. 



I now commenced giving him a ball containing two drachms of ginger 

 and three of gentian, daily. On the second day, he began to eat more and 

 drink less ; and by the time we had administered six balls, he had lost his 

 morbid appetite for water, ate as usual, and has since been sold for £90. 



To have seen him in the stable, without knowing any thing of the case, 

 or the accompanying symptoms, the disease might have been mistaken for 

 inflammation of the kidneys or bladder ; for he was either staling, or 

 endeavouring to stale, the whole time he was in the stable, more particu- 

 larly just after he had drunk; and I am inclined to think, that if there 

 was no predisposition to disease in the kidneys, they would not so readily 

 have adapted themselves to the great demand made on them by the enor- 

 mous influx into the system ; not only carrying off easily all the water he 

 drank, but also the aqueous portion of the blood which had formed a 

 dropsical deposit in the hind legs. On the other hand, if it were the 

 tonics that aided the cure, it implies a morbid state of the stomach, pro- 

 ducing preternatural thirst. I have, however, stated the case as it 

 occurred, and should like to have or hear of another of the same kind, the 

 treatment of which would, perhaps, throw some light on the nature of the 

 malady. 



To what we are to attribute this unnatural or morbid 

 thirst — whether to any disordered state of the kidney,^ or 

 a derangement in the functions of digestion, appears pro- 

 blematical. It would seem to be connected with some 

 morbid condition, since so long as it has, in the cases related 

 of it, continued, the animal has fallen off in his appetite, 

 spirits, and condition, and has not regained them until 

 his excessive craving for drink has been allayed. There 

 appears no risk, in such a case, of harm resulting from 

 allowing the patient his fill of drink — no chance of his 

 *' bursting" or over-sweating, or even purging; for the water 

 is carried out of the system by the kidneys almost as fast as 

 it is received into the stomach. Here, then, is a disease con- 

 sisting — as far as we know — in morbid thirst : let us now 



