INCIDENTAL AILMENTS 



animal is overheated, excess of green food, 

 the abuse of purgatives, worms, intestinal con- 

 cretions, &c., are frequent causes of colic. 

 Before hunters are "summered,'' a dose of 

 physic should be given. Colic is denoted by 

 spasmodic pain in the belly of variable intensity 

 and duration, with or without gaseous distention 

 of the abdomen. In an acute attack, the animal 

 begins to roll, paws the ground, and during the 

 paroxysms of pain is constantly lying and rising. 

 Severity of the pain soon leads to sweating, 

 which increases whilst the extremities be- 

 come cold and clammy. Sometimes an attack 

 of colic will pass off within half an hour, 

 whereas in other instances the pain will con- 

 tinue for several days, but it is not a favour- 

 able sign for a hunter to continue in this 

 abnormal condition, though the trouble does 

 not necessarily terminate fatally under these 

 circumstances. Recurrent attacks of colic 

 are not uncommon, and are generally due 

 either to dietetic errors, the presence of worms, 

 or else intestinal concretions. When the pain 

 continues without any abatement, the pulse 

 becomes hard and wiry, small in volume, and 



133 12 



