57 



The horse, toward tlie last, reels or staggers in his gait and falls 

 backward in a fainting fit, dnring one of which he finally succninbs. 

 Death is sometimes due to rupture of the enveloping coat of the liver 

 or of some of its blood-vessels. 



Among the causes that lead to this disease we must mention first the 

 stimulating effect of overfeeding, particularly during hot Aveather. 

 Those horses that are well fed and receive but little exercise — old 

 favorites that are being liberally fed and have passed the time of 

 service, pensioned heroes of years of faithful toil — these are the best 

 subjects for diseases of this organ. We must add to these causes the 

 more mechanical ones, as injuries on the right side over the liver, 

 worms in the liver, gall-stones in the biliary ducts, foreign bodies, as 

 needles or nails that have been swallowed and in their wanderings 

 have entered the liver, and, lastly, in some instances, the extension 

 of inflammation from neighboring i^arts, thus involving this organ. 

 Acute hepatitis may terminate in chronic inflammation, abscesses, 

 rupture of the liver, or may disappear, leaving behind no trace of 

 disease whatever. 



Treatment. — This should consist, at first, of the administration of 1 

 ounce of Barbadoes aloes or other i^hysic. A large blister is to be 

 applied to the right side, letting it extend from a little behind the 

 girth backward to the last rib and in width about 12 to 14 inches mid- 

 way between the si^ine above and the middle of the belly below. 

 General blood-letting, if had recourse to early, must prove of much 

 benefit in acute inflammation of the liver. The vein in the neck — 

 jugular — must be opened, and from 4 to G quarts of blood may be 

 drawn. Saline medicines, to act on the kidneys, should follow this 

 treatment ; 1-ounce doses of saltpeter or muriate of ammonia, repeated 

 three or four times a day, are jirobably as good as any. The horse is 

 to be fed sx)aringly on soft food, bran-mashes chiefly. If we prove 

 successful and recovery takes place, see to it that the horse afterwards 

 gets regular exercise and that his food is not of a highly nutritious 

 character, or excessive. 



It will, I think, be useless to attempt much of a description of 

 chronic Jiepatitis, the sj-mptoms of this trouble being so obscure that 

 the veterinary surgeon, in most cases, can scarcely hope to do more 

 than diagnose it by exclusion. True, if a horse has had acute hepati- 

 tis and remains dull for too great a length of time, with occasional 

 slight colicky symptoms, yellow membranes, etc., we may not fear of 

 being far wrong in saying that this disease has passed to the chronic 

 form ; but to diagnose this form of hepatitis, without any such pre- 

 vious knowledge of the case, is, to tell the truth, very often " guess- 

 work " with us. 



Jaundice — Icterus — llie Yellou-s. — This is a condition caused by 

 the retention and absorption of bile into the blood. It was formerly 

 considered to be a disease of itself, but can not, I think, be accepted 



