CAUSATION". (i75 



bowel disturbance, associated with expressions of pain, ultimately 

 tend to favour the onset of inflammatory action. The causes 

 repeating the bowel disturbance may be similar from first to 

 last, but the parts so disturbed become less able to resist the 

 €vil effects of the applied irritation or disturbing agent ; and 

 when normal activities are repeatedly perverted, the structures 

 at last refuse to return to their natural condition. 



All those causes which were enumerated as likely to produce 

 intestinal disturbance with exhibition of pain, as over-feeding, 

 irregular feeding, feeding with improper material, and feeding 

 when fatigued or exhausted, together with injudicious w^ork 

 and exposure to vicissitudes of weather, may with equal pro- 

 priety be charged with the production of enteritis, particularly 

 of the acute forms. Probably the continuous feeding, or feed- 

 ing for a lengthened period, upon some particular diet may 

 render an animal so treated more susceptible than others when 

 both are similarly acted upon by some disturbing agent. Of 

 the many irregularities in diet likely to act thus detrimentally, 

 none require to be guarded against more carefully than 

 over-feeding, and feeding liberally, previous to active exer- 

 tion. 



That ordinary indigestion, or functional disturbance of the 

 bowel, does largely — unless when repeated and remaining long 

 unrelieved — tend to pass on to true inflammatory action is 

 doubtful. Rather are we disposed to regard inflammation when 

 occurring as having been such from the first, and more rarely 

 to follow as the natural result of disturbed function which has 

 passed on to the more pronounced change. Many cases of 

 enteritis, no doubt, are regularly encountered in which we are 

 totally unable to assign any reason or sufficient cause for their 

 occurrence; still it is equally certain that many apparently 

 sudden attacks, if the animals had been carefully enough 

 observed, would be found to have been preceded by many in- 

 dications of disturbed health. 



Besides all these influences connected with dietary we have 

 others, a smaller number probably, which, although remotely 

 of dietetic origin, can scarcely immediately be regarded in that 

 light ; these are all such as relate to injury done to the intestine, 

 or obstruction produced in any portion of it, the terminations 

 of which are usually inflammatory. Also we may place the 



43—2 



