SUBACUTE OBSTRUCTION OF THE DOUBLE COLON St 



careful crouching movements. As he stretches himself 

 out, he emits a long-drawn sigh, or a slight but lengthy 

 groan, and then lies out at full length, for, it may be, an 

 hour at a time. While down, his pain is manifested by 

 his occasionally bringing the head round to the side, and 

 looking with anxious and troubled countenance towards 

 his flank. Also, the breath is held after the act of in- 

 spiration, and retained until the voluntary muscle is 

 overcome by the deoxygenated state of the blood in the 

 vessels of the brain. After lying for some time, he will 

 get up and exhibit the same set of symptoms again from 

 beginning to end. 



Dull Objective Symptoms. — Examination per rectum 

 will generally show that bowel to be empty, or containing 

 at the most a few small, hard, and mucus-covered lumps. 

 The bowel is sometimes, though not always, what is 

 termed ' ballooned,' and we may or may not notice 

 violent straining and attempts on the part of the animal 

 at defaecation. It may be, however, in some cases that 

 the rectum is not empty, but full, to a state of impaction, 

 with material varying from a semi-fluid to a solid con- 

 sistence. The bladder is usually empty, and nearly always 

 other portions of the intestines can be felt crammed to 

 their full with impacted faecal matter. Auscultation of the 

 abdominal walls reveals not the slightest sign of peristalsis. 

 Sometimes there is an accompanying slight tympany, and 

 during auscultation we may then hear a peculiar metallic 

 tinkle, caused by some feeble attempt of the bowel at 

 peristalsis. Contrary to many, I attach no grave import- 

 ance to that sound — rather the reverse. The extremities 

 are cold, and the mouth clammy and foetid. When here- 

 after I allude to ' dull ' pains, I am referring to the 

 symptoms described above. Often, however, we may 

 have symptoms much more violent and alarming. 



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