102 THE NATURE AND TREATMENT OK 



resort to drug medication, — the case is imminent. The gas 

 must be evacuated immediately, and we therefore puncture the 

 flank on the left side, in its most salient region, by means of 

 the trocar and canula ; * immediate escape of the gas is the 

 result, and the patient is soon relieved ; now we may resort to 

 medication, and that medicine is the best which is calculated to 

 arouse the action of the stomach and arrest fermentation ; with 

 these objects in view, I recommend the following : Hyposul- 

 phite of soda, 4 drachms ; tincture of ginger, 2 ounces ; water, 

 one pint. Dissolve the hyposulphite in the water, and then add 

 the tincture of ginger. Drench the* animal with the same. If 

 the tincture of ginger cannot be obtained, then substitute 4 

 drachms of the pulverized root. If the case be curable, the 

 above treatment is almost sure to afford relief. The medicine, 

 however may he repeated at the end of four houi*s, if necessary. 



Remarks on the Introduction of the Trocar. — Having as- 

 certained that the animal is in a dangerous condition, owing to 

 the great quantity of gas present within the rumen, the most 

 prominent point of the left flank should then be selected. Here 

 mal^ an incision through the integument, sufficiently large to 

 admit the instrument ; then draw the skin upward, and punc- 

 ture the abdomen ; in this way we make an indirect opening, 

 so that when the trocar is withdrawn, the integument covers the 

 orifice made last. The trocar must be kept very sharp or keen, 

 so that it may, without using much force, penetrate the perito- 

 neum, and lastly, the rumen ; once within the latter, all resist- 

 ance ceases ; the trocar is now withdrawn, and the canula re- 

 mains, for the passage of the gas. In bad cases, the moment 

 the cutting instrument is withdrawn from its sheath, the gas 

 will escape, with a noise resembling a steam whistle, which 

 conveys to us the idea that we are in the presence of a living 

 locomotive, issuing a blast of warning to keep out of smelling 

 distance, for ofttimes the odor is intolerable. 



It is best to let the tube remain in the stomach or paunch, 

 until the abdomen is reduced to about its natural size ; the in- 



* An instrument somewhat similar tp that used for tapping the chest. 



