g6 THE MANAGEMENT AND DISEASES OF • THE DOG. 



blood in jaundice, as has been asserted, or wliether it is ow- 

 ing to an incomplete separation of the elements which consti- 

 tute the bile from the blood, in consequence of the liver not 

 performing its proper function. 



" ' I am inclined,' the author says, ' to the latter supposition, 

 seeing that the icteric color supervenes principally when there 

 is atrophy of the liver, and also in the adipose liver, and when 

 the substance of tliis organ has been invaded by the tissue of 

 foreign substance, such as cancerous tumors, it cannot be 

 supposed that in these cases there can be a superabundant 

 secretion of bile to mix with the blood ; it seems infinitely 

 more simple to admit that the function of the gland is irisuffi- 

 cient to separate the elements of the bile from the blood, and 

 the liquids and solids are soon pervaded by the icteric tint.' 



" This view, however, the author does not take credit for, 

 as several physiologists have considered the bile as an excre- 

 mental product. According to M. Colin the bile is thick, 

 which is, moreover, the case also with other secretions. These 

 physiological views seem to be completely borne out by path- 

 ological facts ; consequent on these reflections I have thought 

 it important to search for some remedy that was capable of 

 restoring the function of the liver in jaundice of the dog. The 

 author continues : 



" ' After several attempts I fixed on the chloride of mer- 

 cury (calomel), the purgative properties of which have been 

 admitted ; but after having administered this drug in purga- 

 tive doses without satisfactory result, I resorted to it in alter- 

 ative doses, and the results obtained have been beyond my 

 expectation, so that there is no case of true jaundice of the 

 cure of which I despair at present. 



, " ' Without, however, pretending to have cured every case, 

 I can affirm that since I am in possession of this remedy the 

 fatal termination of the malady has been very rare ; while be- 

 fore the cures were exceptional, and death, the rule ; but the 

 method of administration is not a matter of indifference. The 

 medicine must be given in small doses three or four times a 



