COLIC. 663 



Following the exhibition of any of these agents, it is always 

 desirable to have recourse to smart friction, with warmth, to 

 the abdomen ; and where the horse may be moved without 

 much discomfort, to have him walked or trotted smartly for 

 ten or twenty minutes. Should relief not be aftbrded within 

 an hour from the period of the tirst administration of the 

 medicine, it ought in some form to be repeated. 



In very severe cases in the early stages, and in all where the 

 symptoms of distress continue increasing from the increase of 

 the distension, we are justified in having recourse to puncture 

 of the distended bowel. This operation I have seen performed 

 with varying degrees of success for thirty years ; it fell into dis- 

 use for long, probably from the little benefit Avhich seemed to 

 attend its employment, and the frequency of fatal results where 

 it had been carried out. That these results were in all cases, 

 or even largely, to be attributed to the performance of this 

 operation I have often had grave doubts. Latterly it seems to 

 have been revived' amongst us, and, from what has been 

 published respecting it, with satisfactory results. As the por- 

 tion of the bowel which is the locality of the tympany is not 

 always exactly the same, it is scarcely possible to indicate the 

 exact spot where this tapping ought to be carried out in every 

 instance. 



Usually the distension will be found most prominent on the 

 right side of the horse ; and as the great bowel in these cases 

 may be regarded as occupying the greater portion of this side 

 of the abdominal cavity, from the transverse processes of the 

 lumbar vertebrae to the floor of the cavity, in the space com- 

 prised between the anterior spines of the ilium and last ribs, we 

 may thus with tolerable safety puncture anywhere between the 

 ilium and margm of the ribs, nearer the former than the latter, 

 extending from the floor of the abdomen to within four inches 

 of the lumbar transverse processes, guided to a certain extent 

 by the prominence of the distension. 



The instrument most suitable for the operation is a trocar, 

 with canula of small bore — an eighth of an inch diameter — 

 either round or flat, and is to be preferred of at least six inches 

 in length. 



It is not often that ulterior bad results follow this punctur- 

 ing ; it may be, however, that a certain amount of inflammatory 



