30 



NEW ENGLAND FAllMER. 



Jan. 



CAUSE OF COLIC IH HORSES. 



I shall now offer some brief remarks on the ccnise 

 of colic. If we coiiH only stretch the imagination, 

 so as to take for granted all the popular causes 

 assigned for the production of colic, then their name 

 would be legion. Some writers inform us that a 

 drink of cold water, when the animal is heated, is 

 the most potent cause ; then we must infer that 

 the horses ridden by the llussian Cossacs, (fast fel- 

 lows,) in a country where cold water is abundant, 

 should be the subjects of colic; but the very re- 

 verse is the case ; the disease is almost unknown 

 among them. 



Previous to the introduction of Cochituate water 

 into the city of Boston, colic occurring among 

 horses was partly attributed to the cold, ivell water 

 then used; but now they all drink the former, yet 

 colic is just as prevalent, and indeed more so, than 

 at the time referred to. 



There are no people that pay more attention to 

 the watering of horses than the English grooms, 

 and it is customary when a horse is taken from his 

 home to a distant race-course, to remain away only 

 a few days, sufficient water is transported with him 

 to last during his stay. Such a dread have Eng- 

 lish grooms of "strange ivater" as they term it. 

 Now, it is a notorious fact, that the English horse 

 is more subject to bowel affections than those of 

 this country. From this circumstance, I infer that 

 bowel affections are hereditary, or in other words, a 

 predisposition to such is transmitted from parents 

 to offspring. 



I can well remember the time when physicians 

 would not allow a fever patient to taste water ; but 

 now they act more in accordance with reason, and 

 allow the sick just what they crave for. 



It is not good policy, however, to allow a horse, 

 when performing a journey, a bountiful supply of 

 water, because active exercise somewhat suspends 

 the digestive function, and therefore the water may 

 remain in a portion of the large intestines without 

 undergoing the usual transformation ; it then oc- 

 cupies space, and being weighty, may, in the rapid 



the same predicament. Warm water is the most 

 insipid and nauseating drink that you can offer a 

 horse ; and many would prefer to continue thirsty 

 for some time ere they would imbibe it. 



Time will not allow me to notice other popular 

 theories regarding the cause of colic, but I shall, in 

 a brief manner, offer a more rational view of the 

 subject. 



It is well known by physiologists, and I presume 

 many of you must have observed, that both men 

 and animals inherit peculiar temperaments, or con- 

 formation, to certain forms of disease. This pecu- 

 liarity, or pre-disposition, is said to lurk in breed, 

 and those conversant with the horse's structure and 

 temperament, can readily determine whether he be 

 predisposed to certain forms of disease or not ; for 

 example, a horse predisposed to flatulent colic is 

 often observed to have a capacious belly, voracious 

 appetite, and does not properly masticate his food, 

 and he is not over particular as to the kind of diet, 

 for we often find him devouring, with apparent rel- 

 ish, the filthy straw that has served as bedding. 

 Often he proves to be a "crib-biter," (cribbing is a 

 defect, either inherited or acquired.) 



Ordinarily the salivial fluid is augmented, yet it 

 does not look healthy, it is more like soap-suds, and 

 of a dirty color ; the tongue is also foul, and the 

 breath somewhat foetid. One or more of these pe- 

 culiarities generally predominate in colicy horses. 



I contend, therefore, that some horses are pre- 

 disposed to colic, and this explains the reason whj', 

 the ordinary exciting causes, such as cold water, 

 exposure, fatigue, irritating food and medicine, are 

 operative on the system of one horse, and inopera- 

 tive on that of another. Colic is the heritage of 

 some of the best horses in the world. 



Now should you ask, what are the causes of colic ? 

 I answer, it is occasioned by predisposing direct and 

 indirect causes, operating conjointly or not. Should 

 you also desire to know, what is the state of the 

 digestive organs at the commencement, I M^ould in- 

 form you that their function is either disturbed, or 

 partly suspended. — Dadd's Veiennary Journal. 



