Chronic Nephritis. 237 



Trasbot notes such cases in the dog, and Dickinson in the ox. 

 Alcoholic nephritis and degenerations are to be sought for espe- 

 cially in cattle kept on distillery and brewery dregs. Lead taken ' 

 in small quantities in soft water that has run through lead pipes 

 or stood in leaden cisterns produces in cows and other animals 

 chronic affections of the kidney. EUenberger and Hoffmeister 

 have produced the disease experimentally with lead and copper 

 respectively. 



Microbian invasions of the kidney that advance slowly like 

 glanders and tubercle are further causes of chronic nephritis. 

 Other secondary microbian infections of the kidney are complica- 

 tions of infectious diseases in other parts, including abscess, 

 pyaemia, septicaemia, ulcerative endocarditis of the left heart, 

 bronchitis, pneumonia, (Frbhner), and of others less directly in 

 the line of the circulation, as omphalitis, uterine phlebitis (Lustig), 

 abscess of the nasal sinuses, bones, and fistulse' (Trasbot). 



In other cases the nephritis is evidently a result of the irritation 

 caused by toxins in process of elimination by the kidneys, as 

 there is no evidence of a nephritic infection. 



In some instances minute emboli originating in the lungs or 

 heart, become the starting point of the nephritis, which slowly 

 extends by reason of infection or low condition and special sus- 

 ceptibility. Disease of the aorta or renal artery may lead to this 

 condition as noticed by Cadeac and I^ustig. Cadeac has also 

 noticed its association with aneurism of the mesenteric arteries so 

 that the strongylus (sclerostoma) armatus may be considered as a 

 factor. Again in old horses and dogs it has been associated with 

 atheroma of the aorta and renal vessels (Trasbot). 



Overfeeding is not without its influence, especially when on ani- 

 mal food, which charges the kidneys with excreting an excess of 

 the irritating urea and uric acid, and this is one reason why it is 

 far more frequent in house dogs than in other domestic animals. 

 When the meat is already decomposing and putrid there is the 

 added evil of a quantity of toxins and even of microbes to be elimin- 

 ated from the system by the much abused kidneys. Add to these 

 that the dog's urine is even in the normal condition more dense 

 and contains more irritating ingredients than that of herbivora, 

 and that owing to the slight activity of his perspiratory apparatus 

 he can obtain less relief from the skin, and we find a substantial 

 ground for the prevalence of chronic nephritis in this animal. 



