DISEASES OP THE LtVER. \%\ 



congestions of the liver, or on the contrary tliere may be 

 costiveness, with light-coloured, fcetid, imperfectly digested 

 stools in cases in which bile is not secreted or is debarred from 

 entering the bowels by some mechanical obstruction ; lameness 

 in the riglit fore-limb, or even in one or more of the remaining 

 members, without any observable local cause ; cramps and even 

 paralysis in the severer cases with poisonous products thrown 

 into the blood ; a tardy pulse, sometimes not more than half its 

 natural number ; yellow or orange colour of the eyes and other 

 visible mucous membranes, and of the urine in cases of 

 obstructed bile-ducts or intestines with re-absorption of bile, or 

 in destruction of blood-cells by taurocholic acid and other 

 products abnormally present in the blood ; tenderness or 

 groaning when the last ribs are pinched or struck with the 

 closed fist ; a yellow or orange fur may sometimes be seen 

 universally diffused or in circumscribed spots on the upper 

 surface of the tongue ; the presence in the urine of deep brown 

 or reddish granular deposits replacing urea is another sign of 

 liver disorder. Obstructed circulation in the liver causes con- 

 gestion of the portal vein, engorged spleen, intestinal catarrh, 

 effusion of blood on the bowels, piles, dropsy of the abdomen, 

 and swelling of the hind limbs. These may therefore be 

 attendant symptoms. 



The conditions in which animals live may further assist our 

 decision in suggesting an efficient cause. The fat, idle, overfed, 

 and pampered stock are especially subject to liver disease, and 

 more particularly if kept in close, hot, damp buildings or 

 climates, or supplied with putrid water or unwholesome food. 

 Thus the pampered family horse, the idle farm horse during our 

 long winters, the high-bred ox, sheep, and pig, in which every- 

 thing has been sacrificed to secure excellence as meat producers, 

 the pet dog, and the Brahmas, Cochins, and other plump hens 

 of Asiatic extraction, present frequent examples of liver disease. 

 The stabled animal is more subject to it than those running at 



