MEDICINAL TREATMENT OF "COLICS" 115 



ondly, because the liberation of this drug, in one place 

 in the stomach, upon the solution of the capsule, 

 causes sufficient irritation to set up gastritis, either 

 acute, subacute or chronic. 



Avoid Bad After-Effects 



The fact that a horse does not die from the ''colic" 

 does not prove that he was properly treated. If he 

 emerges from the attack of colic with first a loss of 

 appetite, later on showing an indifferent desire for 

 food, and a constantly increasing loss of flesh, it indi- 

 cates, in ninety-nine out of one hundred instances, that he 

 was improperly treated — that the treatment because of 

 its irritant character caused gastritis. 



Under the first law for the treatment of colic the 

 writer would also warn the reader against the danger 

 of stock colic mixtures, that contain aromatic spirits of 

 ammonia and linseed oil, for the reason that, if allowed to 

 get old, a caustic, soft soap seems to be formed, by the 

 action of the alkaline ammonia on the oil, and although 

 it had when prepared a sufficient excess of oil to prevent 

 irritation, upon standing for months it frequently be- 

 comes sufficiently irritating to cause inflammation of the 

 mucous membrane of the stomach. 



As for aloes, the sooner this drug is discarded by all 

 veterinarians as a part of the treatment of all forms of 

 colic, either before or during the attack, or as an after 

 treatment, the sooner will the mortality, and the disap- 

 pointing sequlae, such as muco-enteritis, enteritis, super- 

 purgation and laminitis, decrease appreciably. 



