202 THE NATURE AND TREATMENT OF 



" This disturbance is always of a benignant nature, and is 

 coincident with parturition, as the parturient fever, and a serous 

 diarrhoea, which occurs from the second to the third day after 

 calving, easily checked, and never lasting more than twenty- 

 four hours." 



DISEASES OF THE URINARY ORGANS. 



DESCRIPTION OF THE URINARY SYSTEM. 



The primary organs of the urinary system are the kidneys 

 — two avoid conglomorate bodies of a purple color, located in 

 the lumbar region, or loins, separated from each other by the 

 inferior part of the spinal column ; they are generally imbedded 

 in adipose tissue denominated suet. 



The kidneys are the great emunctories of the body, are 

 constantly engaged in secreting waste and morbid fluids from the 

 blood, and we find them much larger in cattle than in horses. 

 When the function of any other excretory organ is impaired, 

 an extra amount of work is in store for them to perform. In 

 health their function never ceases, a constant secretion of urine 

 is going on all the time ; whether the animal be awake or 

 asleep it matters not, there is no rest for the kidneys. On cut- 

 ting through the kidneys, it is found to be composed of two 

 substances, termed cortical and medullary. 



The kidneys are supplied with blood by the emulgent arte- 

 ries ; they are of large calibre, and furnish a large quantity of 

 blood from which the urine is secreted. Within the centre of 

 each kidney is a receptacle known as the pelvis, which ^'irmi- 

 nates in a funnel-shaped outlet, the commencement of the 

 ureter. 



The emulgent arteries which supply the kidneys with arterial 

 blood, are derived from the posterior aorta ; they subdivide and 

 ramify into the substance of the gland, and end in a very com- 

 plex network. The emulgent veins are much larger than the 



