DISEASES OF THE DIGESTIVE ORQaNS. 187 



Hiatory cf the Case. — The horse had performed his usual daily 

 lahor, without any fault-finding on the part of his driver, wheuj 

 all at once, he comnienocd to bloat, appeared uneasy, and, bv 

 his actions, demonstrated very conclusively that he needed some 

 assistance. On examination, I found that the abdomen was dis- 

 tende<l to its utmost capacity. The walls of the abdomen were 

 rigid as a plank, and the respirations, in consequence of the great 

 pressure on tiie dia])hragm and lungs, WQrc very laborious and 

 mi;<'l accelerated, amounting to about one hundred per minute. 

 The pulse was thready and indistinct; the tongue, livid; eyes, 

 glassy and protruding; surface of the body, bedewed with a cold, 

 clatumy pers})iration ; paralysis of the oj)tic nerve had set in, and 

 the animal was "blind as a bat;" in fact, he was dead to all in- 

 tents and purposes. This was not the worst feature of the case. 

 Ho was continually vomiting from both nostrils, and, as the story 

 goes, "a horse that vomits surely dies." Occasionally the animai 

 would fall on the ground with violence, and then assume a vari- 

 ety of positions, in view of finding some relief, but, alas ! to no 

 purpose. His agony was intense, and there seemed to be no re- 

 lief for him, unless by a surgical operation. ]Sredicine was out 

 of the question ; the animal had lost the power of swallowing, and 

 in attempt to administer a drench would have choked him to 

 death; so I selected the most salient or tympanitic spot on the 

 left flank, and then sent a trocar and canula through the walls of 

 the abdomen into the large intestine. So soon as I had withdrawn 

 the trocar, the gas esca])ed very rapidly through the tube, making 

 R noihC like a steam-whistle. The animal obtained almost imme- 

 I'ate relief, and the bad symj)toms rapidly sul)sided, so that I wa.s 

 T'labled to give a colic drench. This operated to prevent fer- 

 mentation, and gave tone to the digestive organs. Two subse- 

 quent drenches, of four ounces each, were given, and at the en'3 

 of twentv-four hours the animal was taken home. The slicrht 

 wound made through the walls of the abdomen into the intestine 

 healed readily, so that I had no trouble with that; and, to con- 

 clude, I M'ould inform the reader that puncture of the intestine la 

 ih'e only rational plan of treatment in a case of this character. 



Ck)lic drench is made up of the following ingredients: 



No. 21. Fluid extrar , of ginger 2 oa. 



Fluid extraci of golden seal 2 oi. 



Hyposulphite of soda 1 o«. 



