DISEASES OP THE KIDNEYS. 371 



every six hours, but little reliance can be placed upon it. The 

 inflammation either abates after the bleeding, or the horse dies in 

 a very few hours. 



Diabetes of late years has been much more frequent than was 

 formerly the case, and especially among race-horses and hunters, 

 probably owing to the enormous quantities of corn which they are 

 allowed in the present day. But whatever may be the cause, the 

 symptoms are clear enough, the horse constantly staling and pass- 

 ing large quantities of urine each time. The treatment should be 

 conducted on the principle that the cause should if possible be 

 ascertained and removed. Mowburnt hay will often bring on dia- 

 betes, and new oats have a similar tendency in delicate horses. In 

 any case it is wise to make a total change in the food as far as it 

 can possibly be done. Green meat^ill often check it at once, and 

 a bran-mash containing a few carrots has a similar chance of doiug 

 good. With these alterations in the quality of the food attention 

 should also be paid to the quantity of the corn, which should be 

 reduced if more than a peck a day has been given, and beans should 

 be substituted for a part of the oats. Half a drachm of the sul- 

 phate of iron (powdered) should be mixed with each feed (that is, 

 four times a day), and the horse should be well clothed and his legs 

 warmly bandaged in a cool and airy (but not cold and draughty) 

 loose box. By attention to these directions the attack may gener- 

 ally be subdued in a few days, but there is always a great tendency 

 to its return. Should it persist in spite of the adoption of the 

 measures already recommended, the following ball may be tried : — 



Take of Gallic Acid 3 drachm. 



Opium 1 drachm. 



Treacle and Linseed Meal enough to make into a ball, which should be 

 given twice a day. 



IDematurea, like diabetes, is easily recognised by the presence 

 of blood in greater or less quantities passed with the urine. It is 

 not, however, of the bright red color natural to pure blood, but it 

 is more or less dingy, and sometimes of a smoky-brown color, as 

 occurs in inflammation. Bloody urine, however, may often be 

 passed without any sign of that condition, and therefore unaccom- 

 panied by pain, or any other urgent symptom. The causes are 

 exceedingly various. Sometimes a parasitic worm ( Strongylus 

 gigas) has been discovered, after death from hsematurea, in the 

 kidney, and was apparently the cause of the mischief. At others, 

 this organ has been found disorganized by cancer or melanosis — 

 and again a sharp calculus has been known to bring on consider- 

 able bleeding, and this last cause is by no means unfrequent. The 

 symptoms are the existence of bloody urine unaccompanied by pain 

 or irritation, marking the absence of nephritis. As to treatment, 

 little can be done in severe cases, and mild ones only require rest, 



