154 CLIXICAL DIAGNOSTICS. 



character of the contents of the various sections of the intes- 

 tinal tract. 



As a rule the stomach and intestines contain a moderate 

 quantity of gases which distend their walls only slightly; 

 hence percussion produces a tympanitic sound. In the paunch 

 of cattle and the large intestine of the horse where food 

 masses accumulate, the sound is at times dull tympanitic or 

 even dull. (Topography of bowels at left side in the horse; 

 see Fig. — ). 



Abnormal accumulations of food masses in the cecum 

 and colon give rise to a dull sound and a sensation of resist-- 

 ance to the finger or pleximetric hammer at points on the ab- 

 dominal wall opposite them. If the accumulation of gases 

 ■causes the bowel walls to distend abnormally and become 

 tense, a clear sound is produced, a sound resembling that pro- 

 duced by the healthy lung, only clearer and louder because 

 large air chambers are present. (In the lungs the air cham- 

 bers are small). 



Bilateral dullness, limited above by a horizontal line, is 

 observed when fluids collect in the abdomen (ascites). This is 

 most frequent in the dog ; raising the animal to a vertical 

 position shifts the dull area accordingly. 



Auscultation of the abdomen. The observation of the 

 various sounds produced by the moving along of the intestinal 

 ■contents has for its objects the determination of the character 

 of the movements of the bowels. The sounds are produced by 

 the onward movement of the solid, liquid and gaseous contents 

 of the bowels. The gases particularly produce distinctly audi- 

 ble sounds. In the absence of intestinal contents sounds are 

 not produced by peristaltic motion. 



The character of the sounds is determined by the consist- 

 ency of the intestinal contents and by the quantity of gases 

 present. Hence : the sounds of the small intestine are those 

 •of flowing liquid, gurgling, and splashing; the sounds of the 

 large intestine rumbling, cooing, and tumbling. 



