714 
DISEASES OF THE IIESPIRATORY ORGANS. 
i'act, the feeding of the Strasburg geese is a notable exem¬ 
plification, these animals being kept in a warm room, and 
crammed with Indian corn, for a period of, we believe, 
about six weeks, suffer from enlargement of the liver, with 
fatty degeneration, to a remarkable degree. 
Under the most favorable circumstances it seems that 
some weeks are necessary even for the artificial production 
of the disease. Instead of weeks, however, we may reckon 
years in many cases. One very remarkable instance has . 
recently been sent by Mr. Gowing. The subject of the 
malady was an old, favorite cat, who had lived in ease and 
])lenty for years; often, doubtless, being regaled with por¬ 
tions of rich and stimulating food, and indulging the feline 
taste for warm corners unchecked. Upon the anirnaPs death 
occurring an examination took place, and the liver was 
found to be much enlarged, although tolerably firm, light in 
colour, and of an uniform texture. Under the microscope, 
the appearance w'as most peculiar, nothing but oil-globules 
of every size could be detected; only after repeated portions 
had been taken w’as a single liver cell discovered, and that 
so charged with fat as to be scarcely recognisable. The 
specimen might have passed for a drop of cream, so com¬ 
pletely did the fat-globules replace the normal elements. 
During the very slow progress of the natural disease very 
little indication of derangement may be expected; and even 
when the changes are considerably advanced there is nothing 
absolutely diagnostic. 
Plethora may be considered to be one sj’mptom; but 
})lethora may exist wdthout any serious organic alterations in 
the liver, although it is scarcely possible for the gland to escape 
altogether when there is excess of fat in the system. Before 
any signs of disease are apparent, the mischief is often irre¬ 
mediable. Not that the patient may not recover from the 
attack under which he is for the time prostrated, but that 
the gland will be left in the same condition, or but little 
altered in any case for the better. 
When we take into account how important is the agency 
of the secretion from the liver in assisting the assimilative 
process, it is very remarkable that extensive organic disease, 
leading to perversion of function, should be compatible with 
seeming good health and spirits. 
In some instances the deterioration of texture is so 
marked that it cannot be doubted that the healthy function 
is w’ell nigh arrested, and yet until the animal dies from 
some other malad}^, probably no such condition is suspected. 
At first, one would be inclined to expect an accumulation of 
