1^4 I^HE FARM DOCTOR. 



done beyond giving anodynes (opium, belladonna, stramonium, 

 etc.), to relieve pain and spasm and await the result. A dose 

 of physic would carry off the smaller calcuH but would be 

 dangerous in the large. But these cases can rarely be recog- 

 nised until after death, and are necessarily classed with a 

 number of others (invagination, constriction, etc., of the bowels), 

 in which there is irremediable obstruction, and which end 

 sooner or later in death, 



SPASMODIC COLIC. BELLY-ACHE. 



This term is loosely used to designate all conditions in 

 which there is pain in the belly, whether from disease of liver, 

 pancreas, urinary organs, generative apparatus, stomach, or 

 bowels, and whether caused by nervous irritation, inflammation, 

 improper position, strangulation, or compression by adjacent 

 organs, obstruction by foreign bodies, etc. The present re- 

 marks will be confined to that which is more purely nervous, 

 and which results from spasmodic contraction (cramps) of the 

 bowels. 



In certain susceptible states of the system a slight indigestion, 

 without impaction or tympany, the taking of indigestible 

 matters that would have been harmless at another time, a drink 

 of ice-cold water when perspiring and exhausted, a chill tain or 

 dew will cause spasms and the most excruciating agony. 



Symptoms. — The attack is sudden, the horse paws, moves 

 uneasily, kicks at the belly, looks at the flanks with anxious 

 countenance, dilated nostrils, and glaring eye, crouches with 

 semi-bent limbs for a io."^ seconds, and then throws himself 

 down with a prolonged groan. He rolls, lies on his back, sits 

 on his haunches, and may get up, shake himself, take to feed- 

 ing, and appear quite well. Another fit comes on in ten, 

 fifteenj twenty, or thirty minutes, and after each there is a 

 period of freedom from pain, with natural pulse and breathing. 

 This with the reckless manner in which he lies down, and the 



