328 INFLAMMATION OF THE INTESTINES. 



the inner membranes of the eyelids, and the hnings of the 

 nostrils, being rather redder than natural. As the inflamma- 

 tion advances the pain increases, so as to force the horse to 

 lie down and get up again frequently ; yet, unless the pain 

 be very acute, he seldom rolls on his back or remains sta- 

 tionary there ; but, as he will occasionally do so in particular 

 cases, this should not be considered as a criterion between 

 this disorder and gripes. He will kick at his belly, stamp 

 with his feet, scrape his litter or stall with his hoofs, and 

 look wistfully round towards his sides. The pulse in most 

 cases is frequent, as 90 or 100, and invariably very hard, 

 small, and wiry. The breathing is accelerated : the belly is 

 sometimes painful to the touch, which never occurs in colic : 

 it is also hot to the feel, and the pain, instead of remitting 

 as in colic, is constant ; the extremities being cold, while the 

 surface of the body is often warm. The bowels are usually 

 constipated, and if any dung be evacuated, it is small, hard, 

 and in dry masses. The anus, if examined, will be found 

 very hot ; and if the hand be obtruded up, it will be felt 

 sometimes even internally inflamed ; it also, in many 

 cases, quivers with the intensity of the general aflfection. 

 Frequently, towards the later stage, there is some tympa- 

 nitis or distention of the belly, which much aggravates the 

 general tenderness evinced on examination. The urine is 

 painfully evacuated in small quantities, and very highly 

 coloured ; sometimes it has much mucus suspended in it. 

 In the progress of the disease these symptoms increase in 

 intensity : the distress of the horse is expressed by his 

 groans, his violent eflforts to change his position, as if to fly 

 from his malady ; while perspiration, partial or general, 

 breaks out, and is then succeeded by a chilly state, with 

 muscular twitchings ; the pulse becomes more and more 

 hurried, intermittent, and at last nearly imperceptible : the 

 respiration is as quick and irregular as the pulse, and 

 occasionally interrupted by a convulsive sigh. The vital 

 powers are now fast ebbing, and the animal sinks after a few 

 feeble struggles, or he parts with life with more violent con- 

 vulsive movements. 



Post-mortem examination of these cases presents inflam- 

 matory marks, sometimes confined, sometimes general. In 

 most cases the. large, but in a few the small, intestines are 



