152 THE COMMON COLICS OF THE HORSE 



examination had been made. I administered the usual 

 balls of stimulants, but was quite unable to get a draught 

 down him. Left word with the owner to send him up to 

 my own stables if he did not get easier before 9 p.m. 



9 p.m. — He was admitted into the infirmary and the 

 rectum explored. My former surmise was wrong, for 

 a huge mass of intensely impacted intestine — evidently 

 the large colon — was found forcing itself right into the 

 pelvis within 6 inches of the anus. I again repeated 

 the balls, and failing, owing to his awkwardness, to 

 administer a drench, gave a warm enema, containing a 

 large quantity of turpentine liniment, in the hope that 

 some of the turpentine would become absorbed, and so 

 excite the bowel to action. The pulse still maintained 

 the same number of beats, but had improved somewhat 

 in tone. As the animal was now lying down, and appeared 

 fairly comfortable, I decided to let him remain until the 

 morning before attempting further measures. 



Monday, 7 a.m. — Patient still in the same condition. 

 Administered hypodermically i| grains of eserine sul- 

 phate. This put him in slightly more pain for about an 

 hour, after which he again grew easier. During the 

 hour he passed a few small quantities of faeces. This 

 I judged was only from the single colon, for rectal 

 exploration still revealed the presence of the impacted 

 coil of larger intestine. 



12 Noon. — Still failing to induce him to take my usual 

 doses of linseed oil, I had no other alternati\e but to fall 

 back on aloes. 1 administered 3 drachms only. The 

 torpid condition of the bowels, however, promised little 

 hope of its acting ; that being so, I decided to irrigate 

 the colon with cold water. 



4 p.m. — Connected the hose with the ordinary town 

 water-supply, and forced into the intestines per rectum 

 several gallons of cold water. I found it impossible to 

 estimate the exact quantity, for during the first few 

 minutes of passing the tube there was a fairly constant 

 flow of water outwards from the rectum ; then, as the 

 bowel in front of the injecting-tube expanded owing to 

 the pressure of the water, and the tube found its way 

 further in, the How from the rectum partially ceased, 



