“INFLAMMATION OF THE BOWELS, 395 
perceptibly enlarged and the dog is evidently out of condition 
that it is generally considered to be established, and then scarcely 
any remedies will be of much service. At this time there is often 
not only a hard enlarged state of the liver, easily felt. through 
and below the ribs on the right side, but also a yielding watery 
enlargement of the belly, from a collection of serous fluid, which 
is thrown out in consequence of the pressure on the veins as they 
return through the liver itself. The skin is “hidebound,” and the 
hair dull and awry; while, altogether, the dog looks thin and 
wretched. The treatment consists in the use of small doses of 
mercury, or podophyllin, according to the state of the liver (1) 
or (13); or sometimes ipecacuanha may be given instead of the 
mercury, in half-grain doses; but it requires a long time to act, 
and will only suffice in very mild cases. The red iodide of mercury 
may be rubbed into the side, mixed with lard (one drachm to one 
ounce of the lard), or the embrocation (42) or (43) may be used 
instead. Gentle exercise may be given at the same time, and 
mild farinaceous food, with a small quantity of weak broth. After 
a, time, as the liver begins to act (shown by the yellow colour of 
the feces), the disease relaxes, and the mercury may be dispensed 
with; but it is usually some considerable time before the stomach 
recovers its tone. A strong decoction of dandelion roots (made by 
boiling them for an hour in as little water as will serve to cover 
them, and then straining) may be given for this purpose, the dose 
being half a teacupful every morning. 
INFLAMMATION OF THE BOWELS. 
Four varieties of this condition are met with, viz—(1) acute 
inflammation of the peritoneal coat; (2) spasms of the muscular 
coat, attended with congestion or inflammation, and known as colic ; 
(3) inflammation of the mucous coat, attended by diarrhea ; and (4) 
chronic inflammation, almost always followed by constipation. 
Acute inflammation of the peritonzal coat is known as perito- 
nitis and enteritis, according as its attacks are confined to the 
membrane lining the general cavity (peritonewm), or to that covering 
the intestines (enteron) ; but as there is seldom one without more 
or less of the other, there is little practical use in the distinction. 
