INFAMMATION OF THE LIVER. 337 



It causes congestion of the liver, whicli runs into inflammation. 

 Dogs deprived of exercise likewise contract it, because their livers 

 first becoming torpid, the bile accumulates, and then, in order to 

 get rid of it, nature establishes an action which ends in inflamma- 

 tion. The symptoms are a yellow condition of the whites of the 

 eye and of the skin generally, from which the disease is commonly 

 called " the Yellows." 



Acute hepatitis comes on rapidly, and with a good deal of fever, 

 generally manifesting itself on the day following a long exposure 

 to wet and cold. The dog shivers ; his nose is hot. His breathing 

 is more rapid than usual, and his pulse is quick and weak. The 

 bowels are confined; and when moved, the "motions" are clay- 

 colored or slaty. If these symptoms are not immediately attended 

 to, the case ends fatally, sickness coming on, and the strength 

 being rapidly exhausted. The treatment should be, first, a consid- 

 erable abstraction of blood ; then give the bolus (13) ; and, as soon 

 as it has acted, rub the embrocation (42) or (43) on the right side, 

 over the liver. At the same time, give calomel and opium pills of 

 a grain each, every four hours, taking care to keep the bowels open 

 by the bolus (13), or by castor oil (15). As soon as the proper color 

 returns to the motions, the calomel may be entirely or partially 

 discontinued, small doses of rhubarb and ipecacuanha being sub- 

 stituted. An emetic (45) in the early stages will sometimes act like 

 a charm, unloading the liver, and at once cutting short the conges- 

 tion. When, however, inflammation has actively set in, it is worse 

 than useless, inasmuch as it aggravates the disease tenfold. 



Chronic hepatitis is caused more frequently by improper food 

 than by exposure, and is very different in its symptoms from the 

 acute form. Whenever the faeces are pale, dark, or slate-colored, 

 the approach of this disease may be suspected, and appropriate 

 treatment should be commenced forthwith ; but it is not until the 

 liver is perceptibly enlarged, and the dog is evidently out of con- 

 dition, that it is generally considered to be established. Then 

 scarcely any remedies will be of much service. At this time there 

 is frequently not only a hard enlarged state of the liver easily 

 felt through and below the ribs on the right side but also a yield' 



15 



