PREFACE ix 



been for generations establishing. If by one iota 

 he can add to the knowledge already accumulated, he is 

 a lucky man. 



]\Iy plagiarism confessed, I feel no need to publish a 

 list of the literature to which I am indebted. I would, 

 however, particularly like to mention two names : The 

 first, that of William Percivall, whose writings have 

 fallen into an obscurity they certainly do not deserve ; 

 the second, Veterinary-Lieutenant-Colonel Fred Smith, 

 from whose works I have very largely drawn, and whose 

 contributions to this and allied subjects have been such 

 as to place the veterinary profession under a deep debt 

 of gratitude. 



I would also mention that the courtesy of Professor 

 M'Fadyean enables me to reprint from the Journal 

 of Comparative Pathology and Therapeutics an article 

 of my own that now forms the subject - matter of 

 Chapter IX. Professor Macqueen has kindly allowed 

 me to make use of his valuable experiments concerning 

 the operation of laparo-enterotomy, and Mr. E. R. 

 Harding, of Salisbury, has furnished me with his 

 experiences relating to the stimulant treatment of 

 intestinal impaction. 



The attempt in Chapters IX., X., and XI. to dif- 

 ferentiate varieties of subacute intestinal obstruction 

 may be regarded as the main original portion of this 

 work. For the present, I simply ask for that a careful 

 reading. 



This book, then, carries no pretence to being entirely 

 original. It is a gathering together of observations that 

 other minds have made, with just so much of my own 

 experience as would enable me to weld the loose 

 particles into one presentable whole. I am not without 

 hopes that the manual will prove of help to the student, 



