JAUNDICE 85 



JAUNDICE 



Jaundice, or icterus, is the name given to the condition 

 produced by the repression, or else by the reabsorption, 

 of the biliary secretion. The condition results from 

 repression of the biliary secretion in such affections 

 of the liver as cirrhosis. It results from reabsorption 

 of the bile when there is an obstruction in the bile duct, 

 such as calculi, new-growths, catarrhal inflammation, 

 etc. 



Symptoms. These vary in severity with the amount of 

 interference in the biliary output. When jaundice is 

 fully established it is frequently a grave and stubborn 

 condition. The horse eats little or not at all. There is 

 an alternating rise and fall in the body temperature; 

 slight exertion frequently produces attacks of tachycar- 

 dia. The clinical picture may change several times a 

 day. At certain hours the patient is apparently in fair 

 health, while possibly at other hours of the day the symp- 

 toms again become marked. The visible mucous mem- 

 branes, especially the conjunctiva, are of a cast from 

 yellow to yellow-green. The color of the urine which 

 the patient voids is either dark brown or greenish in color. 

 The feces are at first slightly lighter than normal in 

 color; later they become greyish. After the ingestion 

 of food the animal may exhibit slight colicky pains. An 

 attack of jaundice may disappear in a few days, or it 

 may remain for several months, depending upon the 

 etiology. 



When the jaundice is clearing up there is in some cases 

 a severe pruritis. The animal will mutilate itself in its 

 attempts to scratch itching portions of the body, fre- 

 quently resorting to the use of its teeth. No doubt some 

 of the cases of self -mutilation that have been reported 

 were due to jaundice. During the entire time that the 



