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Primary Tuberculosis of the Kidney in the Cat
260
The Veterinary journal.
offered water he lapped it most eagerly, and showed intense thirst, and could hardly lap it quickly enough. By the end of the voyage he was all right. The remarkable thing was that all Monday the stokers had been taking coal from there, and it was continually running down towards the opening near the furnaces, and must have been running over the dog, and also that many baskets of coal had also been carried right across the place where the dog was buried. On September 14th, whilst walking from the station down Leith Street in Edinburgh, I saw a man feebly trying to separate a bull-terrier from a Dandie Dinmont, which the terrier had by the ear. A boy suggested to the man to strike the terrier with his stick, which he did, and the terrier then let go, and bolted into the middle of the street, but was there overtaken by the Dandie. A cart-horse drawing a heavy load of wood was coming up at the time, and put his fore foot on the Dandie's back, and broke it. The horse gave a start forward, and with his hind foot again struck the Dandiewhich rolled over-then the near fore wheel went over the dog's neck, and caused the cart to "dump," and after that the dog crawled away on his fore legs to the side of the street, where its owner was standing. A crowd was round in a moment, and I had no heart to push through as I was so horrified, and didn't think it would live another moment. They say a cat has nine lives, but I think from these two experiences witnessed by myself that a dog takes even more killing than a cat. · PRIMARY TUBERCULOSIS OF THE KIDNEY IN THE CAT. BY W. R. DAVIS, M.R.C.V.S., NEW VETER!l\ARY COLLEGE, EDINBURGH.
A CAT was brought to the college for treatment in May last, its owner, an old lady, stating that the animal was perfectly healthy up . to about three months ago, when it began to lose flesh, and its appetite became capricious, but no other symptoms whatever were manifested-nothing to indicate troubles of the respiratory, digestive, or urinary organs. The old lady dated the eat's illness to the time when she herself had suffered from \vhat appeared to have been ptomaine poisoning, from eating tinned salmon, the cat also partaking of the fish.
Tuberculosis of the K£dney. On examining the patient I found it to be greatly emaciated and ancemic. The respirations and heart-beat did not seem much disturbed. On palpating the abdomen I found tenderness about the loins, and my fingers were quickly arrested on touching the kidneys, which could be distinctly felt, and gave the impression of being covered by knobs. The feel suggested something more pronounced than the hobnail kidney condition of interstitial nephritis-multiple tumours, perhaps. The mvner was given no hope of the patient's recovery, and sorrowfully agreed to have it put away. The cat was immediately killed by prussic acid. On making a post-mortem examination the kidneys were found to be somewhat smaller than normal. The capsules \vere adherent. The surfaces of both kidneys were raised into irregularshaped projections, some of these being no larger than pin heads, some as big as a large pea. On cutting into the organ these projections were seen to be yellowish in colour. They were dry and fairly firm. They were not confined to the surface of the organ, but went deep into the cortex; and similar yellow areas could be seen in the medulla, wher~, however. they were not nearly so abundant. The other abdominal organs were examined, but no trace of similar growths could be found. The thoracic organs also were normal. The absence of disease in the other organs made me pass over tubercle in trying to fix on the probable nature of these caseous-looking nodes, which I put down to multiple tumours which had undergone retrograde changes. On hardening a portion and examining microscopic sections from it, the structure of the lesion at once suggested tubercle, and on staining by the Ziell Neillsen method, Koch's bacilli were found in enormous numbers. Professor Israel, of Berlin, recently stated before the Surgical Society that primary tubercle of the kidney is in the human being commoner than is suspected. Sixteen out of twenty-one patients operated on by him for tuberculosis of kidney were primary, the bladder and urethra being free. Fourteen per cent. had both kidneys affected. These, of course, exclude cases of acute tubercle, which are not fit subjects for operation. Professor Israel says that there are three forms of the disease:I. A cavernous form with suppuration about the capsule. 2. A form in which the papillce are involved, and which has hcematuria as a prominent symptom.
The Veterinary Journal. 3· · Nodose condition in ,;vhich the whole of the kidney is occupied by nodes of various sizes. In cases where the kidneys and genitals are affected, th e infection is stated to come by blood and not by continuity merely. This case I thought to be worth recording on account of the rarity of primary or even secondary tuberculosis of the kidney in the lower animals, and to point out how easy the condition may be diagnosed by palpation. It is to be remarked, too, that here \vas a source of infection to the human being little suspected.
QBiJitortal. ON PROCEDURE. I AM pleased to see that Mr. Dollar, in the Veten7zanan, has dra\vn ;::tttention to the irregularities in our procedure when we meet in council as members of the Royal College. I venture to introduce some extracts from Sir Thomas Erskine May's great work on Parliamentary Practice for the inform:t, tion of such of my readers as may not be acquainted with that important book. Our English Parliament is not only the most important deliberative assembly in the world; its forms and rules are, in nearly every respect, models which deserve to be carefully studied and minutely imitated, as, indeed, they have been studied and imitated by most bodies of men who meet together for the transaction of important business, and who wish to transact that business securely and expeditiously. The procedure of Parliament has been excellently codified by Sir Thomas, and his book is a masterpiece of clear exposition which ought to be read and pondered, if not in whole, at any rate in part, by all members of Council. After stating in a general way, "V\Then an amendment has b een proposed to a question the original motion cannot be withdrawn until the amendment has been first withdrawn or negatived, as the latter, until disposed of is, in fact, more immediately under consideration, having been interposed after the original question was proposed," Sir Thomas goes on to say:The object of an amendment is, generally, to effect such an alteration in a question as will enable certain members to vote in favour of it, who, without such alteration, must either have voted against it, or have abstained from voting. \Vithout the power of amending a question, an assembly would
The Veterinary journal.
offered water he lapped it most eagerly, and showed intense thirst, and could hardly lap it quickly enough. By the end of the voyage he was all right. The remarkable thing was that all Monday the stokers had been taking coal from there, and it was continually running down towards the opening near the furnaces, and must have been running over the dog, and also that many baskets of coal had also been carried right across the place where the dog was buried. On September 14th, whilst walking from the station down Leith Street in Edinburgh, I saw a man feebly trying to separate a bull-terrier from a Dandie Dinmont, which the terrier had by the ear. A boy suggested to the man to strike the terrier with his stick, which he did, and the terrier then let go, and bolted into the middle of the street, but was there overtaken by the Dandie. A cart-horse drawing a heavy load of wood was coming up at the time, and put his fore foot on the Dandie's back, and broke it. The horse gave a start forward, and with his hind foot again struck the Dandiewhich rolled over-then the near fore wheel went over the dog's neck, and caused the cart to "dump," and after that the dog crawled away on his fore legs to the side of the street, where its owner was standing. A crowd was round in a moment, and I had no heart to push through as I was so horrified, and didn't think it would live another moment. They say a cat has nine lives, but I think from these two experiences witnessed by myself that a dog takes even more killing than a cat. · PRIMARY TUBERCULOSIS OF THE KIDNEY IN THE CAT. BY W. R. DAVIS, M.R.C.V.S., NEW VETER!l\ARY COLLEGE, EDINBURGH.
A CAT was brought to the college for treatment in May last, its owner, an old lady, stating that the animal was perfectly healthy up . to about three months ago, when it began to lose flesh, and its appetite became capricious, but no other symptoms whatever were manifested-nothing to indicate troubles of the respiratory, digestive, or urinary organs. The old lady dated the eat's illness to the time when she herself had suffered from \vhat appeared to have been ptomaine poisoning, from eating tinned salmon, the cat also partaking of the fish.
Tuberculosis of the K£dney. On examining the patient I found it to be greatly emaciated and ancemic. The respirations and heart-beat did not seem much disturbed. On palpating the abdomen I found tenderness about the loins, and my fingers were quickly arrested on touching the kidneys, which could be distinctly felt, and gave the impression of being covered by knobs. The feel suggested something more pronounced than the hobnail kidney condition of interstitial nephritis-multiple tumours, perhaps. The mvner was given no hope of the patient's recovery, and sorrowfully agreed to have it put away. The cat was immediately killed by prussic acid. On making a post-mortem examination the kidneys were found to be somewhat smaller than normal. The capsules \vere adherent. The surfaces of both kidneys were raised into irregularshaped projections, some of these being no larger than pin heads, some as big as a large pea. On cutting into the organ these projections were seen to be yellowish in colour. They were dry and fairly firm. They were not confined to the surface of the organ, but went deep into the cortex; and similar yellow areas could be seen in the medulla, wher~, however. they were not nearly so abundant. The other abdominal organs were examined, but no trace of similar growths could be found. The thoracic organs also were normal. The absence of disease in the other organs made me pass over tubercle in trying to fix on the probable nature of these caseous-looking nodes, which I put down to multiple tumours which had undergone retrograde changes. On hardening a portion and examining microscopic sections from it, the structure of the lesion at once suggested tubercle, and on staining by the Ziell Neillsen method, Koch's bacilli were found in enormous numbers. Professor Israel, of Berlin, recently stated before the Surgical Society that primary tubercle of the kidney is in the human being commoner than is suspected. Sixteen out of twenty-one patients operated on by him for tuberculosis of kidney were primary, the bladder and urethra being free. Fourteen per cent. had both kidneys affected. These, of course, exclude cases of acute tubercle, which are not fit subjects for operation. Professor Israel says that there are three forms of the disease:I. A cavernous form with suppuration about the capsule. 2. A form in which the papillce are involved, and which has hcematuria as a prominent symptom.
The Veterinary Journal. 3· · Nodose condition in ,;vhich the whole of the kidney is occupied by nodes of various sizes. In cases where the kidneys and genitals are affected, th e infection is stated to come by blood and not by continuity merely. This case I thought to be worth recording on account of the rarity of primary or even secondary tuberculosis of the kidney in the lower animals, and to point out how easy the condition may be diagnosed by palpation. It is to be remarked, too, that here \vas a source of infection to the human being little suspected.
QBiJitortal. ON PROCEDURE. I AM pleased to see that Mr. Dollar, in the Veten7zanan, has dra\vn ;::tttention to the irregularities in our procedure when we meet in council as members of the Royal College. I venture to introduce some extracts from Sir Thomas Erskine May's great work on Parliamentary Practice for the inform:t, tion of such of my readers as may not be acquainted with that important book. Our English Parliament is not only the most important deliberative assembly in the world; its forms and rules are, in nearly every respect, models which deserve to be carefully studied and minutely imitated, as, indeed, they have been studied and imitated by most bodies of men who meet together for the transaction of important business, and who wish to transact that business securely and expeditiously. The procedure of Parliament has been excellently codified by Sir Thomas, and his book is a masterpiece of clear exposition which ought to be read and pondered, if not in whole, at any rate in part, by all members of Council. After stating in a general way, "V\Then an amendment has b een proposed to a question the original motion cannot be withdrawn until the amendment has been first withdrawn or negatived, as the latter, until disposed of is, in fact, more immediately under consideration, having been interposed after the original question was proposed," Sir Thomas goes on to say:The object of an amendment is, generally, to effect such an alteration in a question as will enable certain members to vote in favour of it, who, without such alteration, must either have voted against it, or have abstained from voting. \Vithout the power of amending a question, an assembly would