26 



DISEASES OF THE DIGESTIVE APPARATUS 



on the abdominal wall and the other hand on the other side of the body- 

 directly opposite, a steady pressure is brought to bring the hands to- 

 gether and the ends of the fingers are moved from one position to another 

 and thus outline and palpate the different portions of the intestines. 

 While doing this, attention must be paid to see if the animal winces or 

 evinces pain, and whether it is slight or intense. By this means we dis- 

 cover abnormal accumulations of fa?cal matter in the large intestines, 

 also whether there are any foreign bodies or tumors in the intestines. 

 Intense pain is shown in the early stages of diffuse peritonitis, and in a 

 milder degree, but still very acute, in toxic enteritis, complete obstruction 

 or stenosis of the bowel, and in infectious hemorrhagic gastro-enteritis. 



Fig. 12. — Intestinal canal of the clog. BZ, Caecum; Bs, pancreas; G, colon; H, ileum L, jejunum, 

 M, stomach; md, large intestine; Z, duodenum; 1, curve of the duodenum; 1' flexures of the large in- 

 testine; 2, convolutions of the small intestine; 3, anus; 4,4, anal glands; 4', opening of glands. 



If the bowels are pressed very hard, pain is evinced when there is acute or 

 chronic catarrh of the intestines. A circumscribed or localized pain is 

 seen in intestinal stenosis, tortion or volvulus of the intestine and from 

 the presence of foreign bodies. One must remember in making such an 

 examination that certain painful conditions of the abdominal muscles 

 or even the pain that severe pressure may produce, when the muscles 

 are stretched or compressed, must not be mistaken for intestinal pain. 

 In certain long standing cases of chronic intestinal catarrh, the writer 

 has found a certain amount of pain on pressing the finger tips between the 

 loops of the intestines. 



An increase in the periphery of the abdomen may indicate collec- 

 tions of adipose tissue in the abdomen, pregnancy in bitches, overload- 

 ing of the stomach with food, or great accumulation of faeces in the large 

 intestines. The same condition is observed from accumulations of gas 

 in the stomach and intestines as a result of catarrh of the stomach and 



