COLIC, FIIET, OR GRIPES. 1G5 



CHAP. XXXIV. 



COLIC. — RUPTURE OF THE STOMACH AND INTESTINES. — 

 CALCULI IN THE BOWELS. — STRANGULATION OF THE 

 INTESTINES. — CRIB-BITING. 



Colic, Fret, or Gripes. 



[There has been much difference of opinion as to the nature 

 and cause of the affections recognised under the above names ; 

 some considering them as one disease, others sepai'ating them 

 into numerous divisions. But without entering; into these dis- 

 putes, or making more distinctions than are absokitely neces- 

 sary, I consider there are three varieties of the disease, which it 

 is important to distinguish, — spasmodic colic, flatulent colic, 

 and colic arising from the obstruction of the food. 



The symptoms of the first and second variety are very similar. 

 The horse is very uneasy, paws his litter, looks round to his 

 flanks, sometimes endeavours to kick his belly, gathers up his 

 hind legs, and falls down rather suddenly, rolls upon his back, 

 suddenly gets up again, and appears in extreme pain. The 

 pulse is in its natural state, and the inner surface of the eyelids 

 is not unusually red. The disorder comes on suddenly, the 

 animal having been previously in good health. The horse is 

 sometimes costive, but not often, and in some cases the dung is 

 rather loose. 



In flatulent colic there is a considerable distention of the ab- 

 domen, from the production of gas in the intestines, which, in 

 spasmodic colic, is not found to exist. In the former the large 

 intestines and the stomach * are usually the seat of disease ; in 

 the latter, its situation is more fi'equently confined to the small 

 intestines. 



The symptoms of these diseases are subject to great variety as 

 to their severity, being sometimes so slight as to disappear 

 without any treatment, and at other times so violent as to 

 render the horse almost frantic. I was called to a horse some 

 time since, that had been taken with the fret during the night ; 

 and before I reached the stable he had, in the violence of his 

 struggle*, knocked out several of his front teeth, and disfigured 

 himself dreadfully, his eyes being nearly closed from the eftect 

 of the bruises. 



Flatulent Colic is produced by the distention of the in- 



* In one fatal case in which I was requested to examine the body, I found 

 the stomach distended with gas to two or three times its ordinary size. The 

 horse had been taken ill on a journey, and died shortly after reaching the 

 stable. — Ed. 



M 3 



