' Colicky Affections in Horses. 447 



be more convenient to treat a patient by routine for colic with- 

 out an exhaustive tedious examination and without taking into 

 consideration the real requirements of the case, but this pro- 

 cedure will surely do harm in many cases, where treatment 

 would be successful if it were administered as indicated by the 

 particular underlying- affection. 



One should, therefore, only speak of "colicky affections," 

 ''coliclike affections" of the stomach, intestines, gall ducts, 

 ureters, for the sake of brevity and for descriptive purposes, in 

 the case of diseases which may have either true colicky pains or 

 coliclike pains as one of their symptoms. Otherwise the affec- 

 tions should be treated separately and this plan has been car- 

 ried out in the preceding chapters. Cadeac has considered these 

 affections in the same spirit. 



After the necessity of separating different forms of colic had become 

 obvious, a number of sub-groups were formed. Diseases of the stomach 

 and intestines which are characterized by abdominal pains and usually 

 also by disturbances of defecation or by suppression of peristalsis have 

 been distinguished as genuine colic, from false and from symptomatic 

 colic. With the name false colic were designated painful affections of 

 the peritoneum, the spleen, the kidneys, the internal organs of genera- 

 tion, with the name symptomatic colic attacks of pains occurring in the 

 course of such diseases as anthrax, purpura hemorrhagica, poisoning, 

 gastro-intestinal inflammations. If the true meaning of the term colic 

 is considered, one will fully understand the impropriety of such classi- 

 fications. 



If, in closing the discussions of diseases of the stomach and intestines, which 

 may be the cause of symptoms of colic, the authors here add a special chapter de- 

 voted to a general description of colicky affections, they do so from various motives. 

 Without such a chapter they could, in the first place, not clearly define what is meant 

 by genuine colicky pains and differentiate them from other pains which are not of 

 a true colicky nature, but which manifest themselves in a similar manner. Besides 

 unnecessary repetitions in describing the symptomatology of diseases of the stomach 

 and intestines may be avoided ]>y treating of symptoms of colic in a separate chapter. 

 And it is finally not at all superfluous to treat collectively the differential features 

 of all diseases which may give rise to the symptoms of colic. 



Diseases of horses leading to the symptoms of colic are 

 very frequent. This is shown among other observations by the 

 statistics of the Prussian army, showing that three to five per 

 cent of all horses annually become affected with "colic," while 

 the proportion of the total morbidity to "colic" is like 100 to 11- 

 14. In veterinary clinics one-half or even more of all horses 

 brought to the clinic suffer from colic; this very high figure is 

 due to the fact that horses suffering from other diseases which 

 lead to less obvious symptoms than "colic" are not brought to 

 the clinic so frequently. 



The mortality of colicky affections varies within wide limits 

 because the underlying diseases are different under different 

 conditions and in various localities. This figure varies be- 

 tween 10 to 17 per cent or perhaps even a little higher ; it is, on 

 an average, about 12 per cent. 



Various circumstances afford the reasons why colicky affec- 

 tions are so common in horses. Horses appear to be more sen- 



