56 THE COMMON COLICS OF THE HORSE 



* I remember that one, when about to receive an enema, 

 went down, and I thought it was all over with him, for 

 he looked more dead than alive. However, to my great 

 surprise, he showed a desire to get up, and, once on his 

 feet, he was kept trotting until his bowels began to act, 

 and he was saved. I think this was the only bad case that 

 recovered. I blamed the grass at once, and got a sample, 

 which, from mouldiness, was truly enough to set up any 

 amount of fermentation in the internal economy ; and 

 be it known tympany was the sole cause of all this 

 mischief. 



' I attended the post-mortem of all those that had died, 

 and no sooner were the abdominal walls severed than the 

 stomach, and sometimes the colon, exploded with con- 

 siderable noise, scattering the contents for many yards 

 around. 



' In some instances there were traces of congestion of 

 the mucous membrane of the intestines (not confined to 

 any particular point), and in one case there was a leaden 

 colour of part of the ileum. I looked upon the immediate 

 cause of death as being suffocation. The pressure on the 

 walls of the stomach must have been enormous, for it 

 split like a bubble, and so did the large intestine, but the 

 latter only burst on a few occasions.' 



Symptoms. — In most cases these will be fairly well 

 pronounced before the arrival of the veterinary surgeon. 

 Nevertheless, I must again warn the practitioner that the 

 outset, even of a serious attack, may be comparatively 

 simple. The horse is seized with colic pains soon after 

 the offending feed. The pulse at first is but little 

 quickened, and the respirations are not increased to any 

 marked extent. As a consequence, the animal is treated 

 in the usual way by the attendants before calling in skilled 

 advice. 



