'9 2 



HORSE— DISEASES AND REMEDIES. 



are attached, and moreover, their presence 

 is seldom discovered until the season of 

 their migration, when interference is un- 

 called for. On all accounts, therefore, it 

 is unnecessary to enter into the question, 

 whether it is possible to expel them ; and 

 even if by chance one comes away pre- 

 maturely it will be wise to avoid interfer- 

 ing by attempting to cause the expulsion 

 -of those left behind. 



HORSE, Bowels, Inflammation of the. 

 — There are two divisions of the abdom- 

 inal serous sac, one of which lines the 

 walls of the cavity, and the other covers 

 the viscera which lie in it. In human 

 medicine, when the former is inflamed, 

 the disease is termed peritonitis, and when 

 the latter is the subject of inflammatory 

 action it is called enteritis. But though 

 in theory this distinction is made, in prac- 

 tice it is found that the one seldom exists 

 without the other being developed to a 

 greater or less extent. Veterinary writers 

 have generally taken the nomenclature 

 adopted in human anatomy and pathol- 

 ogy, but in regard to the inflammations of 

 the bowels, they define peritonitis as inflam- 

 mation of the peritoneal or serous coat, 

 and enteritis as inflammation of the mus- 

 cular coat. Our own belief is, that dur- 

 ing life it is impossible by any known 

 symptoms to distinguish the exact locale 

 of any inflammation of the bowels but 

 that of their mucous lining, which will 

 presently be described, and that wherever 

 the actual serous covering of the bowels 

 as involved the muscular fibres beneath it 

 will be implicated, but the serious and 

 fatal symptoms manifested in such cases 

 are not dependent upon the latter, but are 

 due entirely to the lesions of the serous 



• coat. We have examined numberless 

 fatal cases of supposed enteritis, and have 

 uniformly found signs of inflammation of 

 the serous investment, sometimes impli- 

 cating the musclar fibres beneath, and 

 often extending to the peritoneal lining 

 of the walls of the abdomen, but we have 

 never yet seen marks of inflammation in 

 the muscular tissue without the serous 



• covering being affected to a much greater 

 extent. We believe, therefore, that the 

 distinction is erroneously founded, and 

 that, theoretically, the same definition 

 should be made of the two diseases as is 

 in use by human pathologists, though 

 ^practically this is of little importance. 



There is no well made out inflammation 

 of muscular tissue (except that of the 

 heart) in which the symptoms are so ur- 

 gent and so rapidly followed by a fatal 

 issue as in the latter stages of the disease 

 described by Mr. Percivall under the 

 head enteritis, as follows : " The next 

 stage borders on delirium. The eye ac- 

 quires a wild, haggard, and unnatural 

 stare — the pupil dilates — his heedless and 

 dreadful throes render approach to him 

 quite perilous, he is an object not only of 

 compassion but of apprehension, and 

 seems fast hurrying to his end — when all 

 at once, in the midst of his agonizing 

 torments, he stands quiet, as though every 

 pain had left him and he were going to 

 recover. His breathing becomes tran- 

 quillized — his pulse sunk beyond all per- 

 ception — his body bedewed with a cold, 

 clammy sweat — he is in a tremor from 

 head to foot, and about the legs and ears 

 has even a dead-like feel. The mouth 

 feels deadly chill — the lip drops pendu- 

 lous, and the eye seems unconscious of 

 objects. In fine, death, not recovery, is 

 at hand. Mortification has seized the 

 inflamed bowel — pain can no longer be 

 felt in that which a few minutes ago was 

 the seat of most exquisite suffering. He 

 again becomes convulsed, and in a few 

 more struggles less violent than the former 

 he expires." Analogy would lead any 

 careful pathologist to suppose that such 

 symptoms as these are due to some lesion 

 of a serous and not a muscular tissue, 

 and, as we before remarked, we have 

 satisfied ourselves that such is really the 

 case. We have seen lymph, pus, and 

 serum effused in some cases of enteritis, 

 and mortification extending to a large 

 surface of the peritoneal coat in others, 

 but we have never examined a single case 

 without one or the other of these morbid 

 results. It may be said that so long as 

 the symptoms are correctly described 

 their exact seat is of no consequence; 

 but in this instance it is probable that the 

 ordinary definition of enteritis as an in- 

 flammation of the muscular coat may 

 lead to a timid practice in its treatment, 

 which would be attended with worse re- 

 sults. We have no fault to find with the 

 usual descriptions of the two diseases, or 

 with their ordinary treatment, but we pro- 

 test against the definition which is given 

 of them. 



