MEDICINAL TREATMENT OF "COLICS" 117 



colic and has been ill for several hours ; under such con- 

 ditions there is almost sure to be some congestion of the 

 bowels, especially in those cases that occur in the spring 

 of the year, when the weather is mild and the water that 

 horses drink icy cold; conditions that give rise to "con- 

 gestive colics." Doesn't it look reasonable to assume, 

 that aloes with its irritant, congestive action, will add fuel 

 to the fire, or the spark to the powder, and thus increase 

 a moderate type of congestion to an acute active conges- 

 tion and the consequent enteritis? 



More than twenty years ago, the writer dropped aloes 

 from his treatment of colics ; he has since been rewarded 

 by having but exceedingly few cases of enteritis or other 

 of the untoward sequelae of this class of ailments. I 

 am convinced that more cases of enteritis are induced by 

 faulty treatment than occur as a primary disease or as 

 a sequel to colic in any and all of its forms. 



Avoid Anodynes Except in Rare Instances 



The second law for the treatment of colics, do not use 

 any treatment that will mask the symptoms, while broad 

 in its scope, can be disposed of briefly. Under this law 

 I strongly advise against the use of drugs having a dis- 

 tinct and primary anodyne action, like opium or mor- 

 phine, for the very good reason that they allay the pain 

 but have no curative effect on the cause, thus commonly 

 misleading the attending veterinarian and the owner (who 

 is frequently requested to make reports of the patient's 

 condition over the telephone) and the animal, though in 

 no pain, is heading for an attack of impaction of the 

 bowels, and possibly still graver conditions. 



