42 DISEASES OF CATTLE. 



around the bowel and then the stump becomes adherent, so that 

 stianguhition of the bowel results. The rough dragging on the cord 

 may also cause a tear in the peritoneum, the result of which need not 

 be described. The severe exertion of ascending hills and mountains, 

 drawing heaA^ loads, or the straining which oxen undergo while 

 fighting each other may also give rise to peritoneal hernia. 



Symptoms. — The ox suddenly becomes very restless, stamps with 

 his feet, moves backward and forward, hurriedly lies down, rises, 

 moves his tail uneasily, and kicks at his belly with the foot of the 

 affected side. The pain evinced may diminish but soon returns 

 again. In the early stage there are frequent passages of dung, but 

 after the lapse of 18 or 24 hours this ceases, the bowel apparently 

 being emptied to the point of strangulation, and the passages now 

 consist only of a little mucus mixed with blood. When injections are 

 given at this time the water passes out of the bowel without even 

 being colored. The animal lies down on the side where the hernia 

 exists and stretches out his hind feet in a backward direction. These 

 two particular symptoms serve to distinguish this affection from en- 

 teritis and invagination of the bowel. As time passes the animal 

 becomes quieter, but this cessation of pain may indicate that gangrene 

 of the bowel has set in, and may, therefore, under certain circum- 

 stances, be considered a precursor of death. Gangrene may take 

 place in from four to six days, when perforation of the bowel may 

 occur and death result in a short time. 



Treatment. — In the first place the ox should be examined by pass- 

 ing the oiled hand and arm into the rectum; the hand should be 

 passed along the margin of the pelvis, beginning at the sacrum and 

 continuing downward toward the inguinal ring, when a soft, painful 

 swelling will be felt, which may vary from the size of an apple to that 

 of the two fists. This swelling will be felt to be tightly compressed 

 by the spermatic cord. It very rarely happens that there is any 

 similar swelling on the left side, though in such cases it is best to make 

 a thorough examination. The bowel has sometimes been released 

 from its position by driving the ox down a hill ; by causing him to 

 jump from a height of 2 feet to the ground; the expedient of trot- 

 ting him also has been resorted to with the hope that the jolting 

 movement might bring about a release of the bowel. If the simple ex- 

 pedients mentioned have been tried and failed, then the hand being 

 passed into the rectum should be pressed gently on the swelling in an 

 upward and forward direction, so as to endeavor to push the im- 

 prisoned portion of the bowel back into the abdomen. While this is 

 being done the ox's hind feet should stand on higher ground than the 

 front, so as to favor the slipping out of the bowel by its own weight, 

 and at the same time an assistant should squeeze the animal's loins, 

 so as to cause it to bend downward and so relax the band formed by 



