CONGESTION OF KIDNEYS. 217 



place without involving any morbid conditions; but should the 

 changes occur in conjunction with the development of some febrile 

 disease it would be clear that the one was associated with the other 

 and this would undoubtedl}^ be an aid to diagnosis and treatment. 

 Further, it may be found by examination that there are substances 

 present in the urine that are not found in health, such as albumen, 

 bile, sugar, any or all of which will be present in a state of solu- 

 tion and require chemical tests to discover their presence; blood, 

 pus and mucus, the presence of which can be determined by 

 microscopical and chemical examination. It would not serve anj^ 

 useful purpose to mention in detail the several methods of testing 

 for the presence of such abnormal and foreign substances, the 

 safest and cheapest procedure is to submit the urine to a qualified 

 analytical chemist, and obtain a full report, as much may depend 

 upon a proper appreciation of the actual facts as to the nature of 

 the disease, its locality and conditions; and this is the more im- 

 portant, inasmuch as distant organs like the liver and the lungs, 

 to say nothing of the organs of digestion and circulation, exercise 

 a distinct and unmistakable influence upon the urinary secretion, 

 and it is absolutely necessar}' to differentiate between morbid con- 

 ditions due to other and distant organs and morbid lesions of the 

 urinary organs themselves. We commenced the chapter by assert- 

 ing that the subject of the urinary organs was a complex and diffi- 

 cult one, and we believe this brief introduction to the main sub- 

 jects will in the opinion of our readers fully justify the assertion. 



CONGESTION OF KIDNEYS. 



RENAL CONGESTION. 



By renal congestion is to be understood an excess of blood in 

 the structure of the kidnej^s; this congestion is a condition which 

 invariably precedes inflammation of these, or, indeed, any organ 

 of the bod}-; and if the congestion can be allayed, inflammation 

 will never follow. The word inflammation with the ordinary 

 stableman, or even with the horse-knacker, is a phrase that is vul- 

 garly applied to almost every case of illness where there is an evi- 

 dence of excess of blood to a part without regard to the real dis- 

 ease conditions or the organs affected; and we have repeatedly 



