THE DIGESTIVE ORGANS 171 



gruel strained through the milk-strainer, cheese-cloth, or open seed- 

 bag sacking, 1 quart of the warm strained gruel mixed with 1 quart 

 of cold water being offered frequently to the patient to drink. 

 When the animal shows signs of recovery, a handful of dry oats 

 and bran mixed can be put before it, with a small quantity of 

 well-drawn clover hay to pick. Subacute diarrhoea may arise 

 from injudicious feeding with improper food or a too hearty draught 

 of cold water when heated, or from eating wet grass, or from over- 

 excitement, particularly in long-middled, short-ribbed, narrow-made, 

 washy-looking horses. Careful feeding of such animals is necessary, 

 while the medicine mentioned under acute diarrhoea should be given. 

 Intermittent diarrhoea is seen in young animals when casting the 

 crown of their molar teeth, or from the presence of worms in the 

 alimentary canal. Examine the mouth, and remove the crowns of 

 the milk-teeth (par. 352), and give occasional doses of 15 ounces of 

 raw linseed oil, mixed with 1 to i| ounces turpentine, repeating once 

 every sixth or seventh day till four or five doses are given. Super- 

 purgation is often caused in the horse by giving an overdose of 

 purging medicine, and such frequently ends in laminitis. Treatment in 

 this case is the same as for acute diarrhoea. 



266. Dysentery, or Bloody Flux, is a blubbery fluid dis- 

 charge from the bowels, mixed with blood. Although very common 

 in cattle, it is very rare in the horse— at least, in this country. (For 

 Treatment, see par. 1065, No, I.) 



267. Hernia, or Rupture — a displacement of the bowel which 

 may take place at various points — as, for instance, the diaphragm 

 may be ruptured, and a portion of the intestines be pushed through 

 into the chest, such ruptures generally terminating fatally. Or, again, 

 the ' belly-rind ' may become broken, and the intestines escape under 

 the skin. In this case sew a bandage tightly round the body, to 

 support the bowels, until the rupture is reduced. 



268. Scrotal Hernia is very common in young foals ; but in 

 95 per cent, of the cases the bowel returns to its proper place before 

 the animal is twelve months old. Another very common hernia 



