INVAGINATION OF THE BOWEL. 587 



requires considerable force to thrust it into the rumen, a moderately heavy 

 hammer or mallet is employed. 



After removing about a third of the contents of the rumen with a pair 

 of spoon-shaped forceps, whose blades are \ inch (6 mm.) broad, and 

 16 inches long, Brauer attaches a funnel to the cannula, and pours in 

 10 to 15 quarts of salt water. 



Treatment of the wound, in rumenotomy and after the use of 

 Brauer's instrument, is conducted on general principles. 



As this operation is most frequently performed in summer, when 

 flies are common, it is best to apply a dressing which guards against 

 insects and soiling by the tail or mouth. Smearing the parts with 

 tar serves a similar purpose. To prevent relapse some care is required 

 in feeding after operation. For further information on this point, 

 handbooks on special pathology should be consulted. 



Hayne, in 1836, recommended " punctio ventriculi " in the horse to 

 remove gases from the stomach. Apart from the fact that diagnosis is 

 very difficult in these cases, gastric tympanites very seldom occurs in the 

 horse, and generally only as a consequence of stasis in the small intestine, 

 in which case the operation cannot be very beneficial. Passing a tube 

 into the stomach via the mouth and gullet is more effectual and far less 

 dangerous than gastric puncture in the horse. 



IV.— INTUSSUSCEPTION OR INVAGINATION OF THE BOWEL. 



In oxen invagination of the bowel forms one of the most frequent 

 causes of fatal colic. In horses and dogs it is of rarer occurrence. 

 While operation for this condition has not hitherto been attempted 

 in horses, it has been performed with considerable success in oxen 

 and dogs. Excessive and irregular peristalsis may cause several 

 feet of the small intestine to become intussuscepted. The outer 

 (invaginating) portion strangulates the inner (invaginated) and 

 disturbs circulation ; the onward movement of ingesta is stopped, 

 and, broadly viewed, the same conditions obtain as in strangulated 

 hernia. Oxen may survive for five to ten days, or even longer, but 

 horses die rapidly. In exceptional cases the invaginated portion 

 is said to become necrotic, to pass forward through the invaginating 

 piece and be discharged with the faeces. Invagination is commonest 

 in the rectum or small intestine, but in the horse Merten, Hiibner, 

 and others have observed passage of the caecum into the colon. 



Symptoms. The disease begins with a severe attack of colic, 

 which may last twelve hours, and is followed by subsidence of pain, 

 though appetite is wanting. Rumination ceases, tympanites and 

 discharge of blood-stained mucus set in, or obstinate constipation 

 occurs ; the pulse becomes frequent and small, but the temperature 



