40 On Hoven Cattle. 
et 
Indeed in extreme cases, the cavity of the belly is so 
much diminished by the distention of the paunch, as to 
render it probable, that the air therein contained if any 
there be, has no agency in the production of the disease. 
The pressure of the first stomach or paunch, against 
the interior integument of the abdomen, probably led 
Mr. Baker to mistake that ventricle for the cavity of 
the belly, and gave rise to his erroneous opinions on 
the subject. Although I do not conceive any danger of 
wounding the intestine, can arise from piercing the ani- 
mal in the most prominent part of the belly, its various 
convolutions being confined to the opposite side, yet I 
will venture to remark, that I think wounds inflicted 
in that extremely tender part are attended with more 
danger than Mr. Baker and the President seem to im- 
ply. An eminent medical writer says, if one of the 
bowels be slightly cut, the edges of the wound retract 
equally ; and if it be penetrated or cut through, they 
curl themselves back so as to invelope the upper part 
and the inside is thus completely turned outward. 
If this high authority had not been sufficient to con- 
vince me that wounds in the intestines are much to he 
feared; my experience would, for I have in reiterated 
instances known wounds in the bowels of cattle, inflict- 
ed by accident, to prove fatal. 
Ardent spirits given to hoven cattle in doses of about 
a pint, diluted with water, in conformity to the direc- 
tions of Dr. Darwin in his Zoonomia, frequently 
proves efficacious in the first stages of the disease, but 
I question whether any remedy in the last stages of it, 
is equal to piercing the paunch. 
