236 DADD'S VETERINARY MEDICINE AND SURGERr 



cines, lia v'e the effect, in some cases, of rendering the urine for a 

 time albuminous. Perhaps it would be more cGrrec«t to say that 

 certain forms of indigestion may cause this change. Albumen 

 has, also, been detected after a blister upon the skin, or under tha< 

 general state of irritation of the skin called eczema. rubrum, which 

 is produced by the use of mercury. In the crisis of some febrile 

 disorders, in some cases of pregnancy, of heart disease, and in epi- 

 demic cholera, the same phenomena has been observed. Whenever 

 blood, proceeding from the long track of mucous membrane which 

 lines the urinary organs, mingles with the urine, that fluid, of 

 necessity, contains a,lbumen, and coagulates, if tested by heat or by 

 pitric acid." There is no albumen in healthy urine; neither can 

 we recognize its presence by mere inspection. Horses often pasa 

 urine of a thick and ropy character, but that does not prove that 

 it is albuminous. It may be loaded with morbid or excrementi- 

 tious matter, yet contain not a particle of albumen. Healthv 

 urine, when recently discharged, possesses the ordinary temper- 

 ature of the body, is transparent, of a straw color, and exhalea 

 a peculiar ammoniacal odor, which it loses in cooling. About 

 ninety-three parts in one hundred of healthy urine is water ; the 

 remainder are made up chiefly of urea, saline and organic matters. 

 Albumen, being similar to the white of eggs, passes from the fluid 

 to the solid state by boiling ; therefore, in order to detect albumen 

 in urine, it is only necessary to heat the suspected urine to the 

 boiling point, when the albuminous opacity becomes visible. 



A horse the subject of albuminous urine usually has a strad- 

 dling gait; will stretch backward his hind legs; is stiff, and makes 

 short turns with difficulty. He is usually thirsty and feverish, 

 has a quick pulse, and the fences are hard and dark-colored. When 

 the disease is of long standing, and the animal loses flesh, and the 

 mucous membranes of the mouth appear pale, the probability ia 

 that the disease is organic, and the case may be considered incura- 

 ble. In such cases, the morbid appearances aftei death denote 

 degeneration, or structural change in the secreting surface of the 

 kidneys, and in the glands also. 



Treatment. — The best remedy for the treatment of this affection 

 is fluid extract of buchu, two ounces per day. Greep v^s^ctablei 

 and cairots are also indicated. 



