THE DIGESTIVE ORGANS 191 



great care and judgment. In such cases of distension, if the animal 

 is a cow in calf, she is almost sure to abort. 



298. Vomition, or Vomiting, a forcible ejection of the contents 

 of the stomach through the mouth, while not of frequent occurrence 

 in either, is oftener found in cattle than the horse. It has been said 

 that the horse cannot vomit ; but I have seen this occur at least on 

 three occasions, when the animal dropped on its knees, pressed its 

 nose on the ground with side movements of the head, and food came 

 out of both nostrils and mouth. There was no rupture of either the 

 gullet or stomach, as the animals in question lived and did well for 

 years after. At times the feeding-trough in front of cattle is found 

 full of vomited matter. This derangement is generally due to foods 

 containing an excess of starchy matter, as potatoes ; from chronic 

 disease of the stomach ; or from obstruction of the small intestine. 

 Treatment, ounce doses of bicarbonate or hyposulphite of soda dis- 

 solved in 1 J pints of warm water and ^ pint of whisky, or 1 ounce of 

 fluid extract of ginger added and given every six or eight hours, can 

 be recommended, with linseed jelly or skim milk, containing J-pint 

 doses of lime water, to drink. 



299. The Second Stomach. — There are no set symptoms to 

 indicate any derangement of this compartment. As already stated, 

 it is a receptacle for all kinds of foreign bodies, some of which, such 

 as darning-needles, shawl-pins, pieces of wire, occasionally pass 

 through its wall, thence through the diaphragm to the lungs and 

 heart (pay. 442). In cases of derangement of the paunch the second 

 stomach is also more or less implicated. 



300. Indigestion, or Impaction of the Third Stomach- 

 Fardel Bound.— Cattle, when hard fed in stalls, or in spring, getting 

 a chill at grass, or through eating a mixture of old, dead, and new 

 spring grass, or the deciduous stipules or ' bud scales ' falling from 

 oak-trees ('yak-buds,' Cumberland), frequently suffer from indigestion 

 and constipation. Here rumination, the action of the bowels, and 

 the secretion of milk are suspended. The animal stands in an 

 extremely stiff and listless fashion, emitting a continuous grunt and 



