178 DISEASES OF HORSES AND CATTLE. 



healthy tissue in the scrotum by terchloride of an- 

 timony; usually one application is enough. 



Peritonitis (Inflammation of the Peritoneum. — 

 This is one of the results of castration, and usu- 

 ally ends in death, and is caused by the animal 

 being exposed to cold rains after the operation, 

 although I have seen cases of it when the weather 

 has been hot, when an animal is too fat or too 

 thin. Dividing the cord too high up is said to 

 have a tendency to cause it. It is also caused by 

 injuries to the abdominal walls, and may take 

 place from being injured in casting, and from ex- 

 posure to cold when heated, even when no opera- 

 tion has been performed. 



Symptoms: The animal appears dull and stiff, 

 does not want to move, and if it feels pain it is too 

 sick and depressed to move, the muscles of the 

 belly are tucked up, and the skin is tight, and if 

 pressed on with the hand the animal will evince 

 pain, the breathing is hurried, the pulse quick and 

 hard, and the animal refuses food and water. In 

 some cases it will lie down and roll as in inflam- 

 mation of the bowels, the legs and ears become 

 cold and the muscles of the face are contracted, 

 which shows that the poor animal is suffering in- 

 tense agony. Sometimes it becomes delirious or 

 comatosed and dies paralyzed. This form of in- 

 flammation resembles erysipelas, and spreads fast 

 over the membrane of the bowels and the lining 

 of the abdominal muscles, taking on a low form 

 of fever, usually ending in death. 



