184 DISEASES OF THE HOESE. 



mortification. Traces of disease are oliservable in the liver 

 alone, which has entirely lost its natural hue, and has acquired 

 a yellow-brown colour. Sometimes it is diminished in size, and 

 the vessels appear as if they had been emptied of their contents, 

 or become impei'vious. At other times the organisation of the 

 liver is almost destroyed, and there remains nothing but a soft 

 pulpy mass, from which the peritoneum is easily separated. 



" The last variety of diseased liver which I have to mention 

 is an unhealthy secretion, generally produced by circumstances 

 favourable to increased action in this gland, as the heat of 

 summer, and also sudden cold ; by means of wdiich the blood is 

 disproportionately thrown on the internal organs. The drinking 

 of unusually cold water at this season of the year will produce 

 the same effect. Another cause is the venous blood circulated 

 throujih the liver beincr inipre2;nated with an excess of carbon, 

 in consequence of which the bile becomes an acid and irritating 

 substance both to the liver and the bowels. 



" This affection considerably resembles the English cholera of 

 the human subject, and is characterised by violent purging, the 

 evacuations being both frequent and copious, of a dark colour, 

 and a fetid odour. There is a continual rumbling of the in- 

 testines, the breathing is excessively short and hurried, the de- 

 bility is very great, exceeding that produced by the severes^t 

 race, the pulse 100 or more, and, in the worst cases, counted 

 with difficulty ; the nostrils expanded, the countenance anxious, 

 and the extremities cold, and the body covered with a clammy 

 sweat. 



" With such excessive action as this going on in the horse, which 

 imder no circumstances can endure excessive purgation, the first 

 indication of cure is to check the inordinate discharge, and to 

 support the constitution. I have been accustomed to administer 

 the following drink every four or six hours ; starch ^ lb=, port 

 wine 1 pint, laudanum 2 ounces. In most cases, three of these 

 will be sufficient to resist the purging. 



"Having in some measure quieted the system, I have cautiously 

 given oil and aloes, combined with an opiate, until the ex- 

 cretions assumed a more healthy character, after which I have 

 had recourse to the treatment recommended under the last 

 variety of the disease. 



" In the i)ost-mortem appearances there is the same absence of 

 any considerable lesion in the whole of the intestinal canal. The 

 liver is of a darker colour than in the last variety, the vessels are 

 less empty, a greater or less quantity of dark bile is found in the 

 duct and small intestines, the inner coat of which is slightly 

 flushed." 



Besides the morbid affections of the liver mentioned by Mr. 

 Cupiss, there is another, which he has not noticed, and that is. 



