26 DISEASES OF THE HORSE. 
pension are dissolved and the urine is made clear. The urine may be 
unusually cloudy from the addition of abnormal constituents, but to 
determine their character a chemical or microscopic examination is 
necessary. Red or reddish flakes or clumps in the urine are always 
abnormal, and denote a hemorrhage or suppuration in the urinary 
tract. ; 
The normal specific gravity of the urine of the horse is about 1.040. 
It is increased when the urine is scanty and decreased when the 
quantity is excessive. 
Acid reaction of the urine occurs in chronic intestinal catarrh, in 
high fever, and during starvation. Chemical and microscopic tests 
and examinations are often of great importance in diagnosis, but 
require special apparatus and skill. 
Other points in the examination of a sick horse require more discus- 
sion than can be afforded in this connection, and require special train- 
ing on the part of the examiner. Among such points may be men- 
tioned the examination of the organs of special sense, the examination 
of the blood, the microscopic examination of the secretions and excre- 
tions, bacteriological examinations of the secretions, excretions, and 
tissues, specific reaction tests, and diagnostic inoculation. 
