CHAPTER XIV 



INTESTINAL TYMPANY : WIND COLIC, 



FLATULENT COLIC, HOVEN, 



TYMPANITES, ETC. 



Definition.— That condition produced by the evolution 

 of gases in abnormal amount in some part of the intes- 

 tinal canal, with consequent over-distension of the portion 

 in which it occurs. In the horse, the common seats of 

 tympany are the stomach and the large colon. The 

 former we have already disposed of in a previous chapter, 

 and it now remains to give a fuller consideration to this 

 particular condition when confined to the intestines. 



Causes. — These I have already enumerated at length 

 in Chapter VII. On that account, no mention here 

 beyond a brief summary is necessary. Dietetic errors 

 again come to the front. Probably the most common 

 cause of all is the gorging with young herbage when the 

 animal is first turned out in the spring after a winter 

 in the stable. Young growing corn, clover, vetches, 

 and foods excessively mouldy may all be regarded as 

 dangerous. One of the worst cases I have encountered 

 myself was brought about by the owner feeding the 

 animal on raw potatoes. The use of new oats, wheat, 

 and steeped foods that have been allowed to go sour, are 

 also common causes of this condition. Reports of cases 



