236 DADD'S VETERINARY MEDICINE AND SURGER:r 
zines, have the effect, in some cases, of rendering the urme for 4 
time albuminous. Perhaps it would be more ccrrect to say that 
certain forms of indigestion may cause this change. Albumen 
has, also, been detected after a blister upon the skin, or under that 
general state of irritation of the skin called eczema rubrum, which 
is produced by the use of mercury. In the crisis of some febrile 
disorders, in some cases of pregnancy, of heart disease, and in epi- 
demic cholera, the same phenomena has been observed. Whenever 
blood, proceeding from the long track of mucous membrane which 
lines the urinary organs, mingles with the urine, that fluid, of 
necessity, contains albumen, and coagulates, if tested by heat or by 
vitric acid.” There is no albumen in healthy urine; neither can 
we recognize its presence by mere inspection. Horses often pasa 
urine of a thick and ropy character, but that does not prove that 
it is albuminous. It may be loaded with morbid or excrementi- 
tious matter, yet contain not a particle of albumen. Healthv 
urine, when recently discharged, possesses the ordinary temper- 
ature of the body, is transparent, of a straw color, and exhalea 
a peculiar ammoniacal odor, which it loses in cooling. About 
ninety-three parts in one hundred of healthy urine is water; the 
remainder are made up chiefly of urea, saline and organic matters. 
Albumen, being similar to the white of eggs, passes from the fluid 
to the solid state by boiling; therefore, in order to detect albumen 
in urine, it is only necessary to heat the suspected urine to the 
boiling point, when the albuminous opacity becomes visible. 
A horse the subject of albrminous urine usually has a straJ- 
dling gait ; will stretch backward his hind legs; is stiff, and makes 
short turns with difficulty. He is usually thirsty and feverish, 
has a quick pulse, and the feuces are hard and dark-colored. When 
the disease is of long standing, and the animal loses flesh, and the 
mucous membranes of the mouth appear pale, the probability is 
that the disease is organic, and the case may be considered incura- 
ble. In such cases, the morbid appearances after death denote 
degeneration, or structural change in the secreting surface of the 
kidneys, and in the glands also. 
Treatment.—The best remedy for the treatment of this affectios 
is fluid extract of buchu, two ounces per day. Greer vegetables: 
and carrots are also indicated. 
