st remarkable in swill-fed
distillery cattle, which urinate profusely and frequently, yet thrive and
fatten rapidly.

Among the other conditions that increase the flow of urine is overfilling
of (internal pressure in) the blood vessels of the kidneys; hence the
contraction of the blood vessels of the skin by cold drives the blood
inward, tends to dilate the blood vessels of the kidneys, and to increase
the secretion of urine. Nervous disorders, such as excitement, fear,
congestions, or structural injuries to the back part of the base of the
brain, have a similar result, hence, doubtless, the action of certain fungi
growing in musty hay or oats in producing profuse flow of urine, whereas
other forms of musty fodder cause stupor, delirium, or paralysis. Bacteria
and their products are mainly expelled by the kidneys, and become sources
of local infection, irritation, and disease.

The quantity of urine passed daily by an ox on dry feeding averages 7 to 12
pints, but this may be increased enormously on a watery diet.

The mutual influence of the kidneys and other important organs tends to
explain the way in which disease in one part supervenes on preexisting
disorder in another. The introduction of albuminoids in excess into the
blood means the formation of an excess of urea, and a more profuse
secretion of urine, of a higher specific gravity, and with a greater
tendency to deposit its solid constituents, as gravel, in the kidneys or
bladder. A torpid action of the liver, leaving the albuminoids in
transition forms, less soluble than the urea into which they should have
been changed, favors the onset of rheumatism or of nervous disorder, the
deposit of such albuminoid products in the kidneys, the formation of a
deep-brown or reddish urine, and congestion of the kidneys. Any abnormal
activity of the liver in the production of sugar--more than can be burned
up in the circulation--overstimulates the kidneys and produces increased
flow of a heavy urine with a sweetish taste. This increased production of
sugar may be primarily due to disease of the brain, which, in its turn,
determines the disorder of the liver. Disease of the right side of the
heart or of the lungs, by obstructing the onward flow of blood from the
veins, increases the blood pressure in the kidneys and produces disorder
and excessive secretion. Inactivity of the kidneys determines an increase
in the blood of waste products, which become irritating to different