2 o8 VETERINARY LECTURES 



cavity, which, on post-mortem examination, is found to contain a 

 large quantity of straw-coloured fluid. When the disease is dis- 

 covered hypodermic injections of morphia should be given, and 

 cloths wrung out of hot water rolled round the body, covering 

 these again with dry rugs and waterproof sheeting (par. 249). 



315. Dropsy, or Ascites— i.e., dropsy of the belly— may arise 

 from peritonitis, from disease of the liver and bloodvessels, from 

 tubercle, and other causes. It is not of common occurrence. The 

 chief symptoms seen are enlargement of the belly, with swelling of 

 the limbs. Good, nutritious food, with iron tonics and diuretics, 

 should be resorted to (par. 1073, Nos. I. and III.), while, in some 

 cases, it is necessary to ' tap ' the animal. 



316. The Liver [Plate XVIII. , B) is a large, reddish-brown, 

 glandular body, situated between the stomach and diaphragm, and 

 held in its position by ligaments. It possesses four lobes in the 

 horse and two distinct lobes in the cow, and is covered by a coating 

 of peritoneum, called Glisson's capsule. The substance consists of 

 small lobules, made up of cells, arranged like a cart-wheel, between 

 which the capillaries run. The cells take out from the blood certain 

 materials for the formation of bile. The bloodvessels of the liver 

 are — 



(1) The hepatic artery, which supplies it with nutrient blood. 



(2) The hepatic vein, which conveys venous blood back to the 



heart. 



(3) The portal vein, or functional vessel, which brings the blood, 

 charged with absorbed material, from the stomach, spleen, pancreas, 

 and mesentery. From this latter source portions of the bile elements 

 are extracted, and the bile manufactured by the liver cells is then 

 carried by the biliary tubes to the gall-bladder, and from thence by 

 the hepatic duct which opens into the small intestine, close to the 

 stomach. All animals, with the exception of the horse and rat, have 

 a bag, called the gall-bladder, for the purpose of collecting and 

 storing the bile — a viscid, greenish-yellow, and bitter fluid. Bile 

 assists in the digestion and absorption of the nutrient material 



