Abscess of the Boiuel in S alipeds. 337 



tares witli stable forks, nails and other pointed objects. Foreign 

 bodies entering with the food and the cysts of the larvae of the 

 sclerostomata will also give rise to suppuration. 



These abscesses may attain a large size, especiall}^ in strangles, 

 and involve adhesions between the bowel and other viscera, or 

 the walls of the abdomen. Or they ma}' be small like peas or 

 beans scattered along the coats of the intestine or between the folds 

 of the mesentery. The}^ may be inspissated to the consistenc}'^ 

 of thick cream or rich cheese, and they may rupture into the in- 

 testine, through the abdominal walls or into the peritoneum. In 

 the last case infective peritonitis sets in usually with fatal results. 



Symptoms. These are generall}' obscure. There may have been 

 noticed a rigor, and there are always marked indications of ill 

 health, dullness, lack of spirit or appetite, dryness and erection 

 of the hair, hide bound, insensibility of the loins to pinching, 

 colics after meals, tenderness of the abdomen, tympany, groan- 

 ing when lying down or rising, when turned around short, or 

 when walked down hill. Sometimes the abscess can be distincth' 

 felt by the hand in the rectum. When it implicates the abdomi- 

 nal walls there is usually a diffuse phlegmonous swelling, at first 

 soft and pasty, then firm and solid, and finally softening and 

 fluctuating in the center. Sometimes there is the evacuation of 

 pus by the anus or of the investing membrane of the abscess, and 

 this may be expected to herald recover}-. In case of infective 

 peritonitis there are the usual symptoms of stiff movement, the 

 bringing of the feet together under the belly, abdominal tender- 

 ness, trembling, hyperthermia, cold ears and limbs, cold perspira- 

 tions, great dullness and prostration, small, weak or impercepti- 

 ble pulse, hujrried breathing and gradual sinking. 



Treatme7it. This is most favorable when the ab.scess ap- 

 proaches the surface so as to be punctured through the abdominal 

 walls. In other cases it is so .situated that it can be punctured 

 with trochar and cannula through the rectum. In st:ch a case it 

 may be evacuated and injected with a nontoxic antiseptic, the 

 puncture and injection being repeated as wanted. In the inter- 

 nal and deeply seated abscesses we must seek to support the 

 general health, give pure air, easily digestible and nourishing 

 food, and agents that may be hoped to retard suppuration. Hy- 

 posulphite of, soda in Y^ oz. doses, or sulphide of calcium in 

 scruple doses, may be repeated two or three times a day. 

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