HORSE—CARE AND MANAGEMENT. 



95 



when greatly distended, without dividing 

 the serous covering. The operation, how- 

 ever, should only be performed by an ex- 

 perienced hand, as it is one of great dan- 

 ger, and a knowledge of the anatomy of 

 the parts concerned is required to select 

 the most available situation. 



The treatment of impaction must be 

 completely a posteriori, for all anterior 

 proceedings with aperient medicines will 

 only aggravate the spasms. Injection of 

 gallons of warm water, or of gruel con- 

 taining a quart of castor oil and half a 

 pint of spirit of turpentine, will some- 

 times succeed in producing a passage, 

 and at the same time the spasm may be 

 relieved by the exhibition at the mouth 

 of one ounce of laudanum and the same 

 quantity of sulphuric ether. If there is 

 any tenderness of the abdomen, or the 

 pulse has a tendency to quicken, it will 

 be better to resort to bleeding, which 

 alone will sometimes cause the peristaltic 

 action to be restored in a healthy man- 

 ner. The case, however, requires great 

 patience and judgment, and as no great 

 good can often be effected, it is highly 

 necessary to avoid doing harm, which 

 •can hardly be avoided if the remedies 

 employed are not at once successful. 



When the urgent symptoms of colic in 

 any of its forms are relieved, great care 

 must be exercised that a relapse does not 

 take place from the use of improper food. 

 The water should be carefully chilled, 

 and a warm bran mash should be given, 

 containing in it half a feed of bruised 

 oats. Nothing but these at moderate in- 

 tervals, in the shape of food or drink, 

 should be allowed for a day or two, and 

 then the horse may gradually return to 

 his customary treatment, avoiding, of 

 course, everything which may appear to 

 have contributed to the development of 

 colic. 



HORSE, Diarrhoea and Dysentery. — A 

 distinction is attempted to be made be- 

 tween these two diseases — the former 

 name being confined to an inflammation 

 of the mucous membrane of the small 

 intestines, while the latter is said to reside 

 in the large. It is very difficult, however, 

 if not impossible, to distinguish the one 

 from the other by the symptoms during 

 life, and in ordinary practice they may be 

 considered as one disease, the treatment 

 •depending in great measure on the ex- 



citing cause. This in most cases is to be 

 found in the use of too violent " physic," 

 or in not resting the horse after it has be- 

 gun to act until some hours after it has 

 completely " set." Sometimes it depends 

 upon the cells of the colon having long 

 been loaded with faeces, which causes, at 

 length, their mucous lining to inflame, the 

 consequent secretion having a tendency 

 to loosen them and procure their dismis- 

 sal, either by solution or by the forcible 

 contraction of the muscular coat. This 

 last disease is known by the name of 

 " molten grease " to old-fashioned farriers, 

 the clear mucus which envelopes the 

 lumps of faeces being supposed to be de- 

 rived from the internal fat that is gen- 

 erally plentifully developed in the highly 

 fed horses that are especially subject to 

 the attack. For practical purposes, 

 therefore, we may consider the different 

 forms under the head of superpurgation, 

 diarrhoea, and dysentery, meaning by the 

 last name that condition which is brought 

 about by and attended with a discharge 

 of lumps of hard faecal matter enveloped 

 in mucus. 



Superpurgation is sometimes so severe 

 as to place a delicate horse in great dan- 

 ger. When the action of the bowels has 

 gone on for three or four days consecu- 

 tively, and there is no disposition to 

 "set," the eyes become staring and glassy, 

 the pulse is feeble, and the heart flutters 

 in the most distressing manner, the 

 mouth has a peculiarly offensive smell, 

 the tongue being pale and covered with a 

 white fur having a brown centre. The 

 abdomen is generally tucked tightly up, 

 but in the later stages large volumes of 

 gas are evolved, and it becomes tumid. 



The treatment should consist in the 

 exhibition of rice, boiled till quite soft, 

 and if not taken voluntarily, it should be 

 given as a drench, mixed into a thin 

 liquid form with warm water. If the 

 case is severe, one or two ounces of lau- 

 danum may be added to a quart of rice 

 milk, and given every time the bowels 

 act with violence. Or a thin gruel may 

 be made with wheat meal, and the lauda- 

 num be mixed with that instead of the 

 rice. A perseverance in these remedies 

 will almost invariably produce the desired 

 effect if they have not been deferred 

 until the horse is very much exhausted, 

 when a pint of port wine may be sub- 



