542 THE DISEASES AND DISORDEES OP THE OX. 



on which we should ever keep a clear eye, and in these days the 

 functions of the liver are especially liable to be impaired, so 

 iprone are we to indulge at once both in high living and in 

 •sedentary pursuits. 



There are, in the case of the life of each one of us, many grave 

 •misfortunes to be apprehended, which can neither be foreseen 

 nor guarded against, and hence it becomes all the more necessary 

 that all those removable dangers which are liable to beset us 

 should be avoided with the very greatest care. Some persons, 

 it is to be feared, are apt to look upon life, with all its pleasures 

 and its pains, too much from the standpoint of chance and luck 

 — in short, to develop a fatalistic bent of mind. "What is the 

 rUse," one thinks, " of bothering seriously about such minor dis- 

 Tturbances in my bodily frame as a bilious attack, a fit of 

 ^indigestion, or a simple cold, when at every touch and turn the 

 terrible uncertainty of human life is most forcibly and horribly 

 exemplified again, and again, and again ! " The fact remains, 

 however, that the philosophy expressed in the phrase, *' What 

 must be, will be," is erroneous and misleading, and though at first 

 sight it may seem specious, it does not commend itself to the 

 deepest and clearest thinkers. Indeed, the conduct based upon 

 such ideas is most ill-suited to the exigencies of life. The rest 

 of the world presses on, on and on, eager to eliminate all that is 

 wrong and imperfect, and if we do not do likewise, we shall 

 inevitably suffer, in so far as we fail in our duties to ourselves 

 and to the world, and must be left in the lurch. Not only, then, 

 is a knowledge of the disorders of the liver and, indeed, of all 

 the organs of oxen directly useful in so far as it bears upon the 

 welfare of stock, and therefore adds to the wealth of stock- 

 owners, but it is also valuable, inasmuch as such information 

 cannot fail to throw light upon the allied diseases which afflict 

 human beings. 



It is matter of general knowledge that the liver is one of those 

 organs among ourselves which very frequently suffer disturbance 

 and derangement in regard to their functions. The well-worn 

 joke oi Punch upon this subject would not bear repetition except 

 for the intrinsic value and truth of the fact which it emphasises. 

 ''After all," gasps the melancholy-minded man, *'is life worth 

 living ? " " Well,^' replies his friend, '* you see it all depends 

 upon the liver." 



