^ 



DISEASES OF THE STOMACH AND BOWELS. 325 



INFLAMMATION AND RUPTURE OF THE COLON. 



If the stricture of the rectum be not relieved, the diffi- 

 culty grows more and more serious. From the accumula- 

 tion of the gases, the colon is distended to an almost incred- 

 ible extent. The sides of the flanks are puffed out, and the 

 horse looks as though he had been inflated with wind. The 

 prevailing fever and heat rise constantly, and the symptoms 

 become more and more acute. No one who has ever wit- 

 nessed an attack of this kind can forget the terrible mani- 

 festation of pain which it has occasioned. 



Subjected to a terrible strain from the expansibility of the 

 heated gas, and even disorganized, to a certain extent, by 

 its poisonous qualities, the coatings of the intestines at 

 length give way, and become perforated with little holes. 

 From that moment the horse is doomed. Up to" this period 

 there may have been hopes of a recovery, but this catas- 

 trophe settles the question. It will be almost impossible to 

 decide the time of its occurrence, and perhaps the patient 

 even seems better, as the fearful distension of the bowels is 

 now greatly relieved by the escape of the gas through the 

 perforations. If these are large, death will soon ensue; but 

 if small, the horse may possibly linger for several days. 



TREATMENT. 



The attack we have been describing is essentia^ the same 

 as enteritis, or perhaps it is only a form of that disease, and 

 hence the treatment must be of the same character. 



Our first operation is bleeding. It relaxes the parts, and 

 thus accomplishes what medicines will not and can not do, 

 for they never reach the seat of the trouble. But bleeding 

 having been efficiently performed, medicines may be of much 

 assistance in what remains of the treatment. The properties 

 to be sought in their selection are those which will neutral- 

 ize and destroy the poisonous gases, and that will make the 

 remedy both a disinfectant and an anti-spasmodic. The 

 chloroform mixture prescribed for enteritis possesses all 



