190 DADD'S VETERINARY MEDICINE AJNU SURGERY. 



is always sudden in its attack, and some horses are liable to it undei 

 every variety of circumstance — in the stable, on the road, or at 

 grass. At the commencement of the attack the animal becomes 

 uneasy from pain, and commences to paw with his fore-feet. Hv 

 soon gets down, and, if space be sufficient, he commences to roll 

 from side to side, often remaining for a few moments on his bark, 

 in which position he seems to obtain temporary relief. Sometimes, 

 s quick as thought, he is on his legs again, gives the body a shake, 

 and then anxiously regards his flanks, by turning his head toward 

 one side or the other, as much as to say, " Here is the seat of my 

 trouble." Soon he is down again on the floor, rolling and tum- 

 bling about. Now and then the animal remains quiet for a time, 

 in a sort of crouching attitude, the limbs being gathered beneath 

 the body, until the distension is so great, or the pains so severe, 

 that he must shift his position, when again we find him rolling, 

 or standing with his hind extremities stretched backward, and the 

 fore ones advanced, thus representing the attitude of a horse in the 

 act of urinating. Supposing, at this period, that there be no flat- 

 ulency present, yet the respirations are hurried, the pulse wiry, 

 the eyes glassy, and the patient excessively nervous and uncon- 

 trollable, the case is then of a spasmodic character (see Spasmodic 

 Colic) ; but should the animal pass flatus, or the abdomen increase 

 in volume, the case is unmistakable — it is flatulent colic. 



Causes. — I shall now oifer some brief remarks on the cause of 

 colic. If we could only stretch the imagination, so as to take for 

 granted all the popular causes assigned for the production of colic, 

 then their name would be legion. Some writers inform us that a 

 drink of cold water, when the animal is heated, is the most potent 

 cause. Then we must infer that the horses ridden by the Russian 

 Cossacs, in a country where cold water is abundant, should be the 

 subjects of colic; but the very reverse is the case. The disease is 

 almost unknown among them. 



Previous to the introduction of Cochituate water into the city 

 of Boston, colic occurring among horses was partially attributed 

 to the cold well-water then used; but now they all drink the 

 former, yet colic is just as prevalent, and, indeed, more so, than 

 at the time referred to. 



There are no people that pay more attention to the watering of 

 horses than the English grooms, and it is customary, when a horse 

 is taken from his home to a distant race-course, to remain away 



