DEPUEATI^^G OEGANS. 133 



while performing other important functions, are at the same 

 time performing some function of a scavenging nature. The 

 kmgs, the liver, and the large intestines, are organs of this 

 character. 



Amongst the principal of the depurating organs I may- 

 mention the skin and the kidneys. The skin, like other great 

 organs of the hody, is subject to diseases not only within itself, 

 but is also liable to derangement from sympathy. 



The presence of worms within the intestinal canal, if they 

 exist in excess, will cause the skin to present a dry, unthrifty 

 appearance ; a defect which arises in part from intestinal u'rita- 

 tion, but mainly, perhaps, from deficiency of nutrition. 



In examining the skin, note its general appearance. Is it 

 dry, and the hair pen-feathered ? Does the patient rub the 

 skin a good deal ? Is it denuded of hair ? and if so, is the 

 absence of hair general, or local merely ? Do ulcers exist upon 

 it ? K so, where are they situated, and what are their special 

 characters ? 



I have spoken of the skin manifesting sympathy : perhaps 

 no other organ of the body so readily manifests sympathy as 

 the one in question. Irritation in a distant part of the 

 digestive apparatus may manifest its effects in a distant part of 

 the dermal tissues. Disorder of the stomach, if long continued, 

 is sure to produce disorder of the skin, so that in our examina- 

 tion of the latter this proneness to be affected sympathetically 

 should never be forgotten. 



Okgans of Locomotion. — Eules for the examination of 

 the organs of locomotion the reader will find more fully detailed 

 in the section which treats upon, lameness ; where these organs, 

 however, manifest derangement beyond what is m^erely local, 

 it will be necessary to examine them with every care. 



