530 Veterinary Medicine. 



in this as in other affections of the .lungs having been attributed 

 to lessened oxidation in the tissues. It occurs also in haemorr- 

 hages, ruptures and inflammations of the liver and in passive con- 

 gestions of the organ, the impairment of the normal functions (in 

 the altered conditions of nutrition, or under the influence of poi- 

 sons,) proving an important factor in the process. The same 

 remark may apply to the fatty degeneration which complicates 

 most other liver diseases, cirrhosis, catarrh of the bile ducts, dis- 

 tomatosis, echinococcus, carcinoma, and epithelioma. 



Certain other factors must be taken into account. The inheri- 

 ted disposition to the production of fat which characterizes the 

 improved breeds of butcher animals, and particular individuals of 

 all breeds, mature age which predisposes to the deposit of fat in 

 internal organs, old age which lessens the vitality of the cells, 

 and hot, damp climates or stables, all operate more or less in 

 determining the fatty change. 



Lesions. In fatty degeneration the liver is enlarged, pale, 

 bloodless, yellowish, its cut surface exudes an oily fluid which 

 smears the knife, and it is so light that it floats on water. If 

 scraped and the material drawn across a sheet of paper it forms a 

 transparent oily stain. Under the microscope the liver cells are 

 seen to be enlarged and to have their protoplasm and nuclei re- 

 placed by fat or oil. If due to obstruction in the heart or lungs 

 the degeneration is greatest toward the centre of the acinus, if 

 due to an infectious disease it is usually greatest towards its periph- 

 ery. In infectious diseases too the liver is not pale yellow, but 

 usually of a deep brownish or yellowish red. The degeneration 

 may be local or general. McFadyean found a circumscribed 

 lesion in an ox's liver, of a bright ochreous color, and the cells 

 completely transformed into fat cells, while the rest of the liver 

 was sound. In the dog fatty areas, up to an inch in diameter, 

 are not uncommon. The swollen cells pressing on the adjacent 

 vessels, account for the bloodless condition, and favor the degen- 

 erative process. 



Neyrand records a fatty liver of 28 lbs. weight from the horse, 

 and Kitt one of 10 lbs. from the pig. 



Symptoms. Iyike as in most chronic liver diseases the indica- 

 tions are uncertain. The conditions may, however, suggest fatty 

 degeneration; if the patient is very obese; if it has had an 



