aaO IXTROSUSCEPTION OF TIIK LXTF.STINES. 



much consideration, that such oats as are liusky. with a deficiencv of fari- 

 naceous matter, are likely to give rise to these accumulations, whenever 

 impaired digestion exists. It is also an undoubted fact, that a great pro- 

 portion of horses aifected vsdth calculi are the property of millers, or 

 brewers. A third species of concretion too frequently existing is the 

 dung-ball, or mixed calculus. It is made up of coarse, indigestible, excre- 

 mentitious matter, mixed with portions of the 'oat-hair calculus,' and 

 many foreign substances, such as pieces of coal, gravel, &c., and the whole 

 agglutinated together. They are commonly met with in horses that are 

 voracious feeders, and mingled with particles of coal and stone. 



INTROSUSCEPTION OP THE INTESTINES, 



The spasmodic action of the ileum being long contiimed may have been 

 occasioned, or may be succeeded, by an inverted one from the caecum 

 towards the stomach, moi-e powerful than in the natural direction ; and 

 the contracted portion of the intestine will be thus forced into another 

 above it that retains its natural calibre. The irritation caused by this 

 increases the inverted action, and an obstruction is formed which no power 

 can overcome. Even the natui'al motion of the bowels will be sufficient 

 to produce introsusception, when the contraction of a portion of the ileum 

 is very great. There are no symptoms to indicate the presence of this,, 

 except continued and increasing pain. 



Introsusception is not confined to any particular situation. A portion 

 of the jejunum has been found invagTtiated within the duodenum, — and 

 also within the ileum, and the ileum within the CEecum,- — and one portion 

 of the colon within another, and -w-ithin the rectum. The ileum and 

 jejunum are occasionally invaginated in various places. More than a 

 dozen distinct cases of inti-osusception have occurred in one animal, and 

 sometimes unconnected with any appearance of inflamnaation, but in other 

 cases, or in other parts of the intestinal canal of the same animal, there 

 will be inflammation of the most intense character. In the majority of 

 cases, perhaps it is an accidental consequence of pre-existing disease, and 

 occasioned by some irregular action of the muscular tunic, or some irri- 

 tation of the mucous surface. 



An equally formidable, but not so frequent disease, is 



ENTANGLEMENT OF THE BOWELS. 



This is another and sinsTilar concomitant of colic. Although the ileum 

 is enveloped in the mesentery, and its motion to a considerable degree 

 confined, yet under the spasm of colic, and during the violence with which 

 the animal rolls and throws himself about, portions of tlie intestine may 

 become so entangled as to be twisted into nooses and knots, drawn to- 

 gether with a degree of tightness scarcely credible. Nothing but the 

 extreme and continued torture of the animal can lead us to suspect that 

 this has taken place, and, could we ascertain its existence, there would be 

 no cure. 



An interesting case occurred in the practice of Mr. Spooner of South- 

 ampton, A mare at grass was suddenly taken ill. She discovered 

 symptoms of violent colic, for which anti-spasmodic and aperient medicines 

 were promptly administered, and she was copiously bled. The most active 

 treatment was had recourse to, but without avail, and she died in less 

 than four-and-twenty hours without a momentary relief from pain. 



The small intestines were completeley black fi:'om inflammation, and 

 portions of them were knotted together in the singular way delineated in 

 the subjoined cut. The parts are a little loosened in order better to show the 



