CHAPTER XVI 



DISEASES AFFECTING THE LIVER 



Hounds, like any other variety of dog, are not un- 

 commonly affected with liver troubles, some of which 

 are of an acute nature, others chronic in their course. 

 It must be understood that the hver acts as a store- 

 house for the glycogen, or animal starch, and that 

 this substance is mainly instrumental in supplying 

 the heat of the body. It is contained in the minute 

 cells of which the liver is mainly composed, and it is 

 used up in accordance with the demands of the body. 

 A liver complaint may exist in combination with 

 some other affection, such as distemper, being popu- 

 larly known in hound kennels under the title of " the 

 yellows," to which a large proportion of young 

 hounds succumb; in fact, the mortahty from this 

 trouble in the various hound kennels throughout 

 Great Britain is a very considerable one. Another 

 term for the same affection is " jaundice," although 

 this symptom, i.e., the jaundice, may be indicative 

 of variable affections of the liver, both of an acute 

 and chronic manifestation. In the generality of 

 liver complaints there is one unmistakable sign 



presented for observation, which is a saffron colora- 



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