ON THE DISORDERS OF THE DIGESTIVE APPARATUS. 149 



recognised as the seat of disorder in the dog, except that 

 in 1850 M. Bernard exhibited before the Soci«Ste de 

 Biologie a dog in which a pancreatic fistula had been 

 made, but which died in a state of extreme emaciation. 

 It was found that the pancreas had completely disappeared j 

 it was believed it had been digested by the bile (' Gaz. 

 Med.,' 9th March, 1850). 



The Spleen is well developed and less markedly sickle- 

 shaped than in the horse. Evidence tends to show that 

 it is much more frequently diseased in carnivora than 

 herbivora, and numerous cases are on record showing the 

 nature and phenomena of splenic disorder in the dog. 

 These cases are seldom recognised ante mortem, being 

 mistaken for liver derangement. The various British 

 authors on canine pathology speak of Splenitis, but appa- 

 rently without distinct evidence as to the exact pathological 

 state to be dealt with. Blaine summarises his views on 

 this subject by saying, " Whenever a dog has been unthrifty 

 in his coat, and irregular in his evacuations, I have al- 

 most invariably found that both the liver and spleen of 

 the animal were more or less indurated and swollen, par- 

 ticularly the latter." This state results from long con- 

 finement, and the animal being gorged with flesh ; the 

 patient becomes unthrifty in the coat, much emaciated, 

 and loose in his stools ; he husks and vomits frequently ; 

 the evacuations are yellow and frothy, or at times ctinstipa- 

 tion is present ; there is tumour at the left side of the 

 front of the belly, which is painful on pressure, so the 

 dog cries when moved; he is feverish and the visible 

 mucous membranes pale. These symptoms, generally 

 described as those of splenitis, should be considered as 

 indicative of chronic spleen disorder of one of the forms 

 to be described immediately. They are practically in- 

 curable. Laparotomy for their removal does not generally 

 prove successful because the spleen is seldom the onlv 

 organ diseased, the liver (as sufficiently indicated by the 

 above enumerated symptoms) and the mesenteric glands 

 being usually involved; also we cannot often detect spleen 



