208 THE OX AND THE DAIRY. 



the hair becomes ragged, and falls off in unsightly patches ; 

 then, perhaps, an uncontrollable diarrhoea comes on, under 

 which the poor beast may sink. It can scarcely be possible, 

 with this state of affairs, that the liver will not become more 

 or less inflamed ; and thus may gall-stones produce a disease 

 in that organ which did not previously exist. Hence, then, 

 while a jaundiced state of the skin may result from chronic 

 inflammation of the liver, the obstruction of gall-stones in 

 the biliary ducts may not only produce the same yellow suf- 

 fusion, but even excite inflammation, which perpetuates the 

 jaundice. 



It is the opinion of some writers, that the presence of 

 fluke-worms (distoma hepaticum) in the biliary ducts will 

 produce jaundice. We will not say that these parasites may 

 not occasionally produce it, but we can say that of numbers, 

 not a few, of ruminants of every species, which it has been 

 our lot to examine after death, not one was jaundiced when 

 fluke-worms alone were found in the liver or biliary ducts ; 

 the same observation applies to hydatids in the substance of 

 the liver. Indeed we have found fluke-worms in the liver of 

 some of the best fed and most healthy-looking sheep that 

 were ever slaughtered by the butcher. It is a fact that the 

 liver of the finest codfish is infested by hundreds of coelel- 

 minthous worms, coiled up in cells or crypts, and which 

 move and crawl for a long time after being extricated from 

 their nidus. 



With respect to the treatment of jaundice : Could we, as in 

 the case of the human patient, be informed as to the charac- 

 ter and seat of the agony the animal is undergoing during 

 the passage of gall-stones, we should have recourse to opium, 

 sedatives, hot fomentations, and subsequent aperients ; but, 

 as a general rule, the poor animal endures its pain unnoticed, 

 and the jaundiced appearance and evident illness of the 

 beast alone afford us indications of what it may have 

 suffered. 



In cases of jaundice, let the region of the liver be well 

 and carefully examined ; it is important to determine how 

 far this organ is affected, if possible; under all circum- 

 stances (unless the animal be in a state of weakness and 

 emaciation), the abstraction of a small quantity of blood is 

 advisable ; and if the animal suffers spasmodic pain, let an 

 opiate (an ounce of laudanum or a drachm of pulv. opii, m 

 gruel) be given ; follow this up, after a few hours, by pur- 



