Blood Diseases. 145 
It is not improbable that originally the defect, for such 
it must be considered, had its origin in the hereditary 
transmission of a weakly constitution, and later in 
attenuation of form and physical development. The 
absence of sound judgment in the selection and mating 
of canine animals is evident in the various deformities 
of the heavier breeds, as the Mastiff and St. Bernard. 
The system of feeding also, as inducing weight of body 
while sacrificing the essentials of the bony skeleton is 
probably the immediate cause. What we would think of 
the builder who places his superstructure on an inferior 
foundation? The breeding from animals possessing 
heavy carcases set on inferior legs, composed of deficient 
osseous material is a practice of similar kind, having the 
same inevitable results. 
Leuchemia or Leucocythemia, otherwise white 
blood, or white cell blood, is described as occuring in canine 
and other animals, as well as the human subject. As its 
name implies, the corpuscles of the blood are white, the 
characteristic red or crimson colour being absent as a 
result of disease in the blood-producing organs—viz., 
the spleen, lymphatic glands, or spinal marrow. 
Dogs and cats suffer most of all domestic animals, 
usually at or about the middle, or in advanced life. The 
cause appears to be due to engorgement of the spleen 
with blood, and later to its becoming thickened, hard, 
and anzmic, finally involving other organs as the liver, 
kidneys, etc., and ending in death. 
The disease is identified with difficulty, examination 
of the blood during life being the only reliable test. 
The outlines of a cure have not yet been defined. 
Jaundice or Icterus, is essentially a disease of the blood 
owing to retention of bile products, and indicated by a 
deep yellow colour of the tissues. As the original cause 
is disease of the liver, the subject will be suitably con- 
sidered in connection with the several maladies of that 
rgan. (See Chapter XIII.) 
Uremia is the state of blood poisoning by retention 
of elements which should be expelled by the kidneys. 
The skin exhales a strong and sickly odour of urine in 
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