ooi DISEASES A^'J) THEIR tiieat:ment. 



effort of jjature to remove it. Some irritant or indigest^jd food 

 beiiiu; lodged in the bowels, the intestinal iluids are poured out in 

 superabundance to remove it. The incautious use of purgative 

 medicines is a common cause of supevpurgation. It often occurs 

 in the latter* stages of debilitating diseases, when it is always an 

 untoward symptom, betokening a breaking-up of the vital poAvers. 

 The presence of little white worms (ascarides) is occasionally the 

 cause. It sometimes follows the drinking of cold water when an 

 animal is in a lieated state. • 



Symptoms. — The symptoms var-y according to the nature of 

 the case, and the causes that give rise to it. It may be simply an 

 increased fl\iidity of the contents of the boAvels, as is seen in washy 

 or nervous animals, unaccompanied by pain or constitutional dis- 

 turbance; or, on the other hand, it ma}'' be (as in superpurgation) 

 attended by pain, expressed by the uneasiness, pawing, looking to 

 the flanks, etc. He strains frequently, and the foeces are veiy 

 watery; the pulse is small and hard. Rapid and increasing weak- 

 ness and emaciation, loss of appetite, and unless means are speedily 

 adopted to check it, inflammation of the bowels is apt to set in. 



Treatment. — Great cai'c must be exercised in feeding and wat- 

 ering washy horses, dry feed being best suited to them. They 

 should not be allowed to drink too freely of water, especially be- 

 fore work. In many cases it may be necessary to give them 

 some starch or chalk mixed up in the feed. In all cases, the main 

 point is to discover the cause. If arising from improper food, it 

 must be changed at once. 



If some ii-ritant be suspected, nature niust be assisted in her 

 efforts by giving a quart of linseed or castor oil, followed up by 

 starch or Avell-boiled flour gruel, keejDing the animal Avarm. If 

 worms are suspected, or seen in the dung, one or tw'^o ounces of 

 spii-its of turpentine, or any of the vermifuges recommended, 

 should be added to the oil. Should it not yield to this, neutralize 

 the acids in the bowels by giving an ounce an<l a half of jn-epared 

 chalk and a dram and a half of powdered catechu, mixed in a 

 j)int of water. Give once or twice a day until purging ceases. 

 Keep the animal Avithout exercise, and do not give mxich Avater to 

 drink. 



If this disease should arise from nervous excitement, o-ive a 



