TREATMENT. 681 



lield by those who, from scientific knowledge or practical expe- 

 rience, are most entitled to give an opinion on the subject. 

 That there are numerous cases where, from inherent conditions 

 and particular surroundings, the abstraction of blood may not 

 only be tolerated, but even indicated as likely to prove of 

 benefit, there seems reasonable grounds for believing. 



These are usually seizures where the animals possess suffi- 

 cient vigour in themselves to warrant us in believing them 

 capable of carrying through the reaction likely to follow, 

 which are not acted upon by immediately depressing in- 

 fluences, and where the vascular disturbance, as indicated by 

 the cardiac and arterial pulse, is of recent origin. Having 

 taken a fair or full amount of blood, it will rarely be needful 

 to repeat the operation. We must be careful not to mistake 

 the cardiac excitement of reaction for increased perversion of 

 normal activities. 



The fact that arrest of intestinal action and of discharge of 

 fa3cal matter is a prominent symptom, has usually led to the 

 use of some variety of purgative agents in the treatment of 

 enteritis. Now, as I do not believe that a horse in this condi- 

 tion is likely to suffer from the want of discharge from the 

 canal for several days, as also that to solicit the passage of the 

 contained ingesta is likely to induce aggravation of the irrita- 

 tion and already existing morbid action, it seems that the indi- 

 cations of treatment are rather in the opposite direction — that 

 instead of attempts to excite movement of the bowel, we 

 ought to endeavour to secure its repose. 



Instead of administering aloes, or large quantities of oil, or 

 even salines, greater benefit, I believe, always results from the 

 employment of some preparation of opium or belladonna, 

 either alone or combined with a camphor mixture, the vehicle 

 being gruel, or gruel with a moderate quantity of oil. When 

 given in a liquid form, the watery solution of opium is to 

 be preferred to the spirituous, and when employed as bolus, 

 is to be exhibited in moderate amount at intervals of a few 

 hours. A very useful mode of employing these medicines, I 

 have found, is first of all to exhibit a draught containing half 

 a drachm of camphor, opium solution equal in strength to 

 half a drachm of the powder, with five minims of Fleming's 

 tincture of aconite in a pint of gruel, with or without a httle 



