150 THEORY AND PRACTICE 



FATTY DEGENERATION. 



Fatty degeneration of the liver occurs in fat-pampered horses 

 and dogs. The liver of a dog with ascites may be five times the 

 natural size. In such a case the liver is large, soft and yellow 

 and there is jaundice. The dog is fat and weak. 



Treatment. — Reduce the artificial heat; decrease the amount 

 of food and increase the work gradually. Sheep develop fatty 

 degeneration if fed on non-nitrogenous food, such as white tur- 

 nips. In such a case prescribe pea-meal and oats. The liver is 

 large and yellow; miscropical examination shows fat globules 

 in the liver cells ; many of the lobules are transformed into fat. 

 The animal may die from fatty degeneration of the liver at- 

 tended by a rapid loss of flesh and strength following a prior 

 period of thriftiness. 



ICTERUS. 



Icterus is a yellow condition of the whole system. This is 

 caused by two factors: 1. Suppression (non-secretion of the 

 bile) ; 2. Reabsorption of the bile. These two conditions may be 

 differentiated by the presence or absence of biliary acids in the 

 urine. These are glycocholic and taurocholic acids. When these 

 acids are found in the urine they are a sure sign of reabsorption 

 of the bile ; when they are absent from the urine, it means that no 

 bile has been secreted by the liver, that is, suppression. 



Test for Biliary Acids in the Urine. — Put a dram of urine in 

 a test-tube and in it dissolve a little cane sugar. To this add 

 carefully so as not to mix a dram of sulphuric acid, holding the 

 tube slanting ?o that the acid passes down under the urine. If 

 biliary acids are present, a deep purple band will form between 

 the urine and the sulphuric acid ; if not, a brown band will form. 

 In case the acids are present it is a sure indication of obstructed 

 bile ducts and a consequent reabsorption. If the brown band is 

 the reaction, then this is a sign of suppression. 



Etiology of Suppression. — Enervation is an important factor. 

 It occurs in the disordered hepatic circulation of cirrhosis, in 

 tuberculosis, actinomycosis, fatty degeneration, etc, 



