DISEASES OF THE URINARY ORGANS. 



131) 



The following table after Tereg* gives the different conditions of the 

 urine, and especially the amount of urea and hippurie acid under dif- 

 ferent rations. The subjects were two oxen, weighing respectively (1), 

 1,2GO pounds, and (2), 1,060 pounds: 



The varying amount of urea (from 1.0 to lo.4 ounces) is most sugges- 

 tive as to the action of the more or less nitrogenous food and the 

 resulting concentration of the urine and blood. Hippurie tic id, on the 

 o!hT hand, is most abundant when the animal is fed on hay and straw. 



The specific gravity of the urine of cattle varies from 1.030 to 1.0(10 

 in health, water being 1,000. It is transparent, with a yellowish tinge, 

 and has a characteristic musky smell. The chemical reaction is alkaline, 

 turning red litmus paper blue. The quantity passed in 24 hours varies 

 greatly, increasing not only with the amount of Avater drunk, but with 

 the amount of albuminoids taken within the food and the amount of 

 urea produced. If a solution of urea is injected into the veins the 

 secretion of urine is greatly augmented. Similarly the excess of salts 

 like carbonate of j>otash in the food, or of sugar, increases the action 

 of the kidneys. Only alxmt L'O percent of the water swallowed escapes 

 in the urine, the remaining 80 percent passing mostly from the lungs, 

 and to a slight extent by the bowels. The skin of the ox does not per- 

 spire- so readily nor so freely as that of the horse, hence the kidneys and 

 lungs are called upon for extra work. The influence of an excess of 

 water in the food is most remarkable in swill-fed distillery cattle, which 

 urinate profusely at frequent intervals and yet thrive and fatten 

 rapidly. 



Among the other conditions that increase the tlow of urine is over- 

 * Kurxklop. tier ThuThnlk.. Vol. IV, j>. L'tw. 



