CHAP. II.] OF BILE — EXCESS AND DEFECTIVE. 149 



by means of the lacteals ; in other words, these are 

 the internal and the external modes of exhibition, 

 and the preparations of mercury are here mostly 

 kept in view. 



The secretion of too much bile, and the conse- 

 quent inability of the vessels to carry it off, it may 

 easily be foreseen would be the harbinger of jaun- 

 dice ; and its approach may be discerned by the 

 yellowness of the eyes, by the increased number 

 and thinness of the animal's dungings, and the 

 constant emptiness of its belly, which both feels 

 and appears loose and flabby. On the contrary, too 

 little bile must leave the intestines without the requi- 

 site stimulus to expel their contents, which, soon 

 getting dry and hard, a constipation usually follows, 

 that defies the remedy by purgatives : nor is the 

 mainfid operation of backraking, with the use of 

 clysters always of effectual service, but requires 

 purgatives in their mildest form. Whichever ex- 

 treme affects the liver, the patient becomes weak : 

 but in case of deficiency, though he may look more 

 brisk for a few days, stretching his hind legs out 

 when unemployed, he afterwards becomes feverish, 

 hot under the tongue, sluggish and dull in the eyes. 

 Scirrhous liver — a corrosion or induration of its fine 

 surface, accompanies this deficiency of bile, and 

 when it recurs often, the disease becomes perma- 

 nent ; but whether caused by, or causing the same, 

 we are yet unable to ascertain. Ulcerated liver is 

 occasioned by a too great heat in this organ : if oc- 

 curring upon its thin extremity, the disorder cures 



h3 



