24 COLICS AND THEIR TREATMENT 



To handle more intelligently the work at hand, we 

 will group, as is customary with writers upon veterinary 

 medicine, the several varieties of true colic which it is 

 our purpose to consider. The classification that appeals 

 most to the writer is a modification of those adopted in 

 Hayes' translation of Friedberger and Frohner's "Vet- 

 erinary Pathology" and by Reeks in his excellent work 

 upon ''Colics of the Horse." Without attempting to ad- 

 here absolutely to the details in either instance but ac- 

 knowledging the basis mentioned for the classification, 

 we present the following groups, viz. : 



1. Colic due to engorgement. 



2. Colic due to intestinal and mesenteric obstruction. 



3. Gaseous colic. 



4. Spasmodic colic. 



5. Verminous colic. 



Engorgement Colics 



1. — Gastric Impaction. — We will first consider en- 

 gorged stomach, called also stomach staggers, gastric 

 impaction or vertigo. There is usually a history of glut- 

 tony; possibly the horse has slipped his halter or gained 

 freedom through an open stable or stall door or from a 

 pasture enclosure or otherwise and thus had access to 

 some especially palatable growing food or the grain bin. 



Having eaten to over-indulgence the animal appears 

 especially dull, full-bodied and exhibits every evidence 

 of reflex brain pressure, leans heavily against the wall of 

 the stall or rests the head upon the edge of the manger. 

 The pains are slow to set in, mild at first but gradually 

 increase in intensity until they become a steady grind, but 



