230 DADD'S VETERINARY MEDICINE AND SURGERY. 



urine ; set the mixture in a warm place, and, if sugar be present,, 

 fermentation will soon commence, and carbonic acid rising in the 

 tube will depress the upper surface of the urine. 



Very few experiments have ever been made on the diabetic 

 urine of horses ; but large quantities of saccharine matters have 

 been obtained from the diabetic urine of man, by a process of 

 evaporation. Watson tells us, in his "Lectures," that he haa 

 ■seen large flat cakes of beautifully crystallized diabetic sugar. 

 " It differs somewhat from common sugar, the produce of the 

 sugar-cane, and approaches more nearly to the sugar of grapes. 

 This kind of sugar, which may also be produced artificiaLy from 

 starch, chemists have named glucose. By rapid evaporation of 

 the water, a thick syrup is produced, resembling treacle ; but Dr. 

 Macintyre, who has presented to our hospital museum some very 

 fine specimens of this sugar, prepared by Dr. Blandford, informs 

 me that to get it well crystallized, the evaporation in a steam- 

 bath should be stopped while the urine is of thin consistence. It 

 may be quickly reduced to one-half, perhaps, of its original quan- 

 tity; then it should be set aside, in shallow plates, and in the 

 course often days or a fortnight the sugar will be deposited." 



An animal the subject of diabetes is usually very thirsty. The 

 urine is light-colored, almost transparent. It has not the ordi- 

 nary odor of common urine, but something like musty hay. 



Treatment. — The indications in the treatment of this affectior 

 are, to give tone to the system and sustain the general health. A 

 drachm or two of the sulphate of iron may be occasionally mixed 

 with the oats (the latter must be of the best quality), and one 

 ounce of the fluid extract of buchu may be given every night * 

 Good wholesome food and an occasional drink of slippery-elm 

 tea are also indicated. Should the disease not yield to such treat- 

 ment as this, the case may be considered incurable. 



Cause. — In regard to the cause of diabetes, very little is known ; 

 but, to set the matter right in the minds of some who believe that 

 nothing but diuretics and inferior provender excite it, I offer the 

 following quotation from the pen of the author just named. I 

 think, however, that bad food is most likely to produce diabetes. 



* The buchu is not a direct diuretic, like resin or niter; therefore it may be 

 given with safety. It acts as a tonic and sudorific, and operates physiologically 

 »n the kidneys. 



