Iodine is a truly valuable drug. When first introduced into veterinary
practice it was observed that it readily accomplished the reduction of
the enlarged glands that frequently remain after catarrh; but it was
presently evident that it reduced almost every kind of tumour, even the
growth of tubercles in the lungs. Professor Morton, in his Manual of
Pharmacy, has admirably described the different combinations of iodine.
THE LIVER
of the dog seems to follow a law of comparative anatomy, that its bulk
shall be in an inverse proportion of that of the lungs. The latter are
necessarily capacious; for they need a large supply of arterial blood,
in order to answer to their rapid expenditure when the utmost exertion
of strength and speed is required. The liver is, therefore, restricted
in its size and growth. Nevertheless, it has an important duty to
fulfil, namely, to receive the blood that is returned from the
intestines, to separate from the blood, or to secrete, by means of it,
the bile; and then to transmit the remaining portion of it to the lungs,
where it undergoes the usual process of purification, and is changed to
arterial blood. In the performance of this office, the liver often
undergoes a state of inflammation, and disease ensues, inveterate, and
setting at defiance every means of cure. Both the skin and the urine
become tinged with a yellow effusion. The animal is dull, and gradually
wastes away.
In a few days the yellow hue becomes more intense, and particularly on
the cuticle, the conjunctiva, the iris, the gums, and the lips. A state
of fever becomes more and more perceptible, and there are alternations
of cold and heat. The pulse varies from 80 to 120; the dry tongue hangs
from the mouth; the appetite ceases, but the animal is peculiarly
desirous of cold water. The dog becomes restless; he seeks to hide
himself; and he groans, if the parts in the neighbourhood of the liver
are pressed upon.
Frequent vomitings now appear, slimy, and evidently containing gall. The
animal becomes visibly thinner, obstinately refuses all solid food, and
only manifests thirst. He begins to stagger as he walks; he withdraws
himself from observation; he anxiously seeks some dark place where he
may lay himself with his chest and belly resting on the cold ground, his
fore legs stretched out before him, and his hind legs almost as far
behind him. The fever increases, the skin becomes of a dark yellow
colour, the mucous membrane of the mouth and conjunctiva is of a dirty
red, the expired air is evidently hot, the gaze is anxious, the urine is
of a saffron yellow, or even darker: in short, there now appears every
symptom of inflammation of the liver, with jaundice.
As the disease proceeds the animal begins to vomit masses of a yellowish
green substance, occasionally mixed with blood. He wastes away to a
skeleton, he totters in his walk, he is half unconscious, the pulse
becomes weak and interrupted, the temperature sinks, and death ensues.
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