=Dilatation.= When the opening into or from the bladder has, from some cause or other, become greatly narrowed or obliterated, the obstacle to the passage of the urine causes a _dilatation of the ureters_.[33] The sinus and calices at the same time, dilate at the expense of the renal tissue, so that we frequently find but a thin layer of cortical substance compressed against the investing capsule, and the kidney converted into a number of pouches, separated by the remains of the medullary cones. The surface of the kidney is markedly lobulated. The distention of the ureters may reach such a degree, that they resemble a portion of small intestines, their walls being at the same time somewhat thickened. From an increase in length sometimes met with, the ureters no longer lie straight, but are thrown into coils or flexures. With dilatation of the ureters, we not unfrequently find coexisting a state of =Inflammation=. The mucous membrane is then found swollen and injected, of a villous aspect, and covered with a muco-purulent fluid. Sloughing may ensue with consequent perforation of the ureters and infiltration of the urine into the adjacent tissues, producing an extension of the sloughing process or circumscribed abscesses. The inflammation rarely exists as a primary disease; its most frequent causes, are the irritation from calculi, or the extension of vesical disease. It may extend to the sinus of the kidney, constituting pyelitis. Morbid Growths. =Cancer= of the urinary passages but seldom occurs, and only when found elsewhere at the same time. =Tubercles= may occur in the ureters, even when the kidneys are healthy, but most frequently where they are involved at the same time. These usually coexist with tuberculosis of some important organ. “The deposit takes place in the submucous tissue, and forms, when its progress is chronic, gray granulations, which become yellow, soften, and give rise to small circular ulcers. When the disease is more acute, larger patches of deposit are formed, or the mucous membrane becomes infiltrated throughout with the tubercular product of inflammation, which is at once detached as a cheesy, purulent mass.” =Cysts=, containing a glutinous or hard matter, about the size of millet-seeds or peas, are occasionally found developed under the mucous membrane of the urinary passages. The Suprarenal Capsules. These bodies are sometimes entirely absent. Where one of the kidneys is absent or displaced, the capsule may still be found in its normal position. =Inflammation and Degeneration.= Inflammation of the bodies, either acute or chronic, appears to result in the following changes: