EXTERITIS. 335 



Enteritis, when once established, cannot be cut down as it 

 were at a stroke. In spite of all at present known to the con- 

 trary, it will, for a time, pursue a well-marked course. 



It is essentially a violent form of disease ; and this vio- 

 lence is so palpable to the observer, that he is led almost 

 instinctively to adopt measures for its removal which are hasty 

 and violent also. Hence has arisen the belief in the necessity 

 to resort to those fearful bleedings and enormous doses of 

 medicine, which are so frequently and destructively applied, to 

 effect its extinction. 



Its treatment requires, on the part of the practitioner, 

 great judgment, energy, decision, and unwearied patience. He 

 has to cope with a foe which is destructive and dangerous in 

 the extreme — dangerous because destructive. Indeed, Enteritis, 

 Pneumonia, and Tetanus are diseases which, perhaps more than 

 all others, require the medical attendant to direct his curative 

 skill to allay morbid irritation ivithin the tissues a^ected, and at 

 the same time to economise and support the life powers of the 

 patient to the utmost extent possible. 



The treatment which I shall recommend may appear (espe- 

 cially to those who are wedded to the old methods) altogether 

 inadequate. Strict attention, however, to its principles will 

 soon enable the thinking and judicious practitioner to discover 

 its value. 



Symptoms. — The disease rarely commences suddenly : the 

 animal attacked will, in all probability, have been unwell for 

 ten or twelve hours before the more violent symptoms are 

 manifested. Very likely the horse will have refused his food, 

 and occasionally breathed a little hurriedly ; the eyes may have 

 presented a dull, anxious look : the coat may have been staring 

 and pen-feathered, the mouth dry, the pulse accelerated ; and 



