Symptoms. 383 



premonitory symptoms which recur from time to time, usually 

 at shorter intervals. The animals throw themselves down reck- 

 lessly and roll energetically; exceptionally, when the obstruct- 

 ing concrements have sharp borders, the animals do not throw 

 themselves or roll, because this only increases the pain due to 

 injury by the calculi. The animals betray pain by restless trip- 

 ping, by looking around towards the abdomen, shaking the head, 

 and occasionally by painful neighing (authors' observation). Ab- 

 normal positions, such as dog fashion, kneeling postures, pecu- 

 liar stretching, may also be frequently ol)served. They are not 

 of any particular significance, because they are caused by the 

 abdominal tension or by the pressure upon the diaphragm and 

 are frequently seen in the course of other affections. 



Examination of the abdomen in ol)turation of the small in- 

 testines shows a decrease or an entire absence of intestinal 

 sounds from the start, and in other cases after a number of 

 hours, eventually only on the third day of the disease. 



Directly after the onset of the first symptoms, defecation 

 occurs only a few more times, often only once or twice, then 

 no more feces or intestinal gases are voided, in spite of the fact 

 that the animals make efforts at defecation. If the obturation 

 takes place gradually, diminished defecation occurs for some 

 time, and if the concrements which form the impediment are 

 quite irregular the discharge of thin-fluid feces may be kept up, 

 because these can pass between the irregular surface of the cal- 

 culus and the intestinal wall, through the clefts which have 

 remained open (authors' observation). 



Rectal examination shows that the posterior portion of the 

 rectum is entirely open. If the arm is introduced up to the 

 shoulder, the examiner may feel the obstructing calculus or the 

 eoncrement, in horses which are not too large, in the first portion 

 of the small colon, immediately in front of the anterior pole of 

 the left kidney ; possibly also in the median line. Obturation in 

 the pelvic flexure or in the small colon ( socalled abdominal por- 

 tion of the rectum) can be felt with ease in all horses. An obtu- 

 ration of the ileum or of the dilatation of the large colon can 

 likewise be felt, unless the patients (horses) are very large 

 (see page 367). One can rarely expect to find masses of as- 

 carides in the small intestines. 



Calculi and concrements may usually be felt on palpation 

 as hard, unyielding, frequently uneven, nodular bodies, but their 

 true shape may be covered up hj fecal masses which have be- 

 come deposited on them. The intestinal wall at the site of the 

 obstruction is usually moderately tender, but it may be extreme- 

 ly tender, as the authors have seen in one case, so that the 

 patient rears and throws himself down whenever the hand ap- 

 proaches this place. The obturating body may exceptionally be 

 in the rectum, so that it can be felt directly by the introduced 

 hand. 



The temperature is at first normal, and respiration and 



