4:0 TREATMENT OF DISEASES 



something within the intestinal tube, thei'e generated, such as an 

 acid or an alkali ; generated in consequence of a morbid condition 

 of the salivail or tlie gastric fluids, and from the presence of worms. 

 But spasm of the bowels is produced more easily by a peculiar stim- 

 ulus conveyed through the nerves which are connected with, and 

 supply nervous force to those muscles at the seat of spasm. I wish 

 the reader to understand that it does not matter much whether the 

 stimulus, which occasions the state of spasm, be applied to the ex- 

 ternal or internal surfaces ; for it is well known that horses of a 

 peculiar nervous temperament when heated by exercise and then 

 driven into water, will occasionally be attacked with cramp or spasm, 

 and even locked jaw ; and locked jaw is a disease of the same class 

 and order as spasm of the bowels, only located in a diflerent part of 

 the body. The reason why external and internal stimuli act pre- 

 cisely alike to produce spasm, in the predisposed subject, is because 

 the ultimate nerve fibres have a similar distribution on external as 

 well as internal surfaces. 



This peculiar arrangement of the nervous system, of a two-fold 

 character, appears to be a wise aiTangement : First, it brings the 

 psychical endowments of animals into relation with the external 

 world and its influences; informing them, through the medium of 

 the organs of sensation, of the changes whieli take place under con- 

 ditions of the atmosphere known as "heat and cold" ; and in their 

 undomesticated state, the conscious, or instinctive tnind receives an 

 instructive lesson and acts accordingly, so as to guard against dan- 

 ger. Secondly, an impression made on the internal surface of the 

 intestines, reacts through its nervous and motor apparatus, precisely 

 as if applied to the external surface of the body, and excites or 

 arouses voluntary and involuntary action and spasm, as the case may 

 be, purely on the principle of self-preservation, and of resisting in- 

 juries when threatened. 



Treatment. — To one ounce of fluid extract of lobelia add three 

 drachms of sulphuric aether; mix this in a small quantity of sweet- 

 ened water, and drench the patient with the same : the lobelia and 

 jEther act as anti-spasmodics, and tend to relax the spasm of the 

 bowels. 



Then take two ounces of fluid extract of lobelia, two quarts of 

 warm water, and throw the same into the rectum by means of a 

 syringe. 



Should the above treatment not relieve the animal, I should 

 ffitherize him, and apply a stimulating liniment to the abdomen, and 

 after the animal recovers from the efix?cts of the aether, a few drops 

 more of lobelia will do him no harm; yet, if he is relieved, the med- 

 icine should be dispensed with. 



FLATULENT COLIC. 



Flatulent Colic is the result of derangement of the digestive or- 

 gans : the food, without being properly digested, runs into fermenta- 

 tion, and generates gas within the stomach and iutesLiaes. 



