528 DISEASES OF THE KIDNEYS. 



The prognosis should always be reserved until it is certain that 

 acute nephritis will not ultimately develop. 



The treatment consists in removing the cause of the congestion ; 

 rich foods, or foods containing irritant principles, should, therefore, be 

 avoided, as also the administration of diuretics, etc. 



Otherwise, the treatment is similar to that employed in all visceral 

 inflammations : bleeding to the extent of two to four quarts, according 

 to the size of the animals, warm poultices to the loins and flanks, dry 

 friction, mucilaginous drinks and emollient decoctions of barley or pel- 

 litory. The animals should be kept in a warm place. 



In cases of passive and secondary congestion, treatment must be 

 directed towards improving the condition of the organ primarily affected, 

 w^hether it be the heart, liver, or lymphatic glands. 



ACUTE NEPHRITIS. 



The term nephritis applies to inflammation of the renal tissues. 

 Clinically, two forms only can be distinguished, the acute and the 

 chronic. 



As regards its pathological anatomy, the inflammation may princi- 

 pally affect either the interstitial tissue or the epithelial parenchyma, a 

 fact which has suggested the division of the condition into epithelial 

 nephritis, interstitial nephritis, and mixed nephritis. Clinically, such 

 distinctions are impossible ; and in reality all forms of nephritis are to a 

 varying degree mixed, the lesions predominating in one or other of the 

 constituent tissues. These lesions depend on the extent, intensity, and 

 duration of the inflammatory attack, whatever the primary causes. All 

 the constituent tissues of the kidney may be affected, simultaneously 

 or individually : the Malpighian corpuscles, the convoluted tubules, the 

 collecting tubules, or the interstitial connective tissue. 



Causation. Cold seems to be an important factor. All acute or 

 chronic intoxications in which the toxic principles are eliminated by the 

 kidneys, such as poisioning by cantharides, fermented beet pulp, young 

 shoots of trees or toxic plants, may cause acute nephritis. 



Infectious diseases, such as gangrenous coryza, haemoglobinuria, 

 tuberculosis and post-partum infections, also play an important part, 

 whether the nephritis be direct, that is to say, the result of the infecting 

 agent itself, or indirect, i.e., produced by toxins generated in the body. 

 In female animals gestation is an often unsuspected cause. Moussu 

 believes that albuminuria is frequent during gestation, and although in 

 most cases it is only of moderate degree, he thinks it is often associated 

 with sub-acute nephritis, which might be aggravated by an accidental 

 cause. 



