6i 



called the gall-bladder, and is afterwards poured out iuto the small intestine 

 to act on the food, as the latter is being carried onwards, past the opening 

 of the gall-duct, into the small intestine. Now in the horse there is no gall- 

 bladder, and so the bile flows constantly and directly into the first part of the 

 small gut. When the horse is worked immediately after a meal, the blood 

 from which the digestive juices are directly or indirectly drawn, is required 

 to repair the loss of tissue caused by the waste of muscular elements. Every 

 time a muscle acts, work is done, and there is a waste of tissue, and this 

 waste has to be repaired. Therefore, if an animal be worked immediately 

 after a meal, the food remains undigested, causing irritation of the 

 stomach and intestines, and various diseases, such as colic, stomach-staggers, 

 and other affections result. 



ACUTE INDIGESTION, OR STOMACH-STAGGERS. CHRONIC 

 INDIGESTION. GASTRITIS. 



The first disorders of the stomach to which we shall draw attention, 

 are acuie and chronic indigestion. Acute dyspepsia, or indigestion with 

 engorgement, popularly termed stomach-staggers, although not uncommon 

 in some parts of the country, is rather rarely met with in Nortli 

 Lincolnshire. It results from engorgement of the stomach with food, 

 from imperfect mastication, and from eating indigestible material, or food 

 specially apt to undergo fermentative changes. Cooked food, brewers' 

 grains, musty hay, and ripe vetches, are especially liable to cause impaction. 

 Wheat and barley are also very likely to induce indigestion, and they 

 frequently also cause purgation and laminitis, and may even lead to a fatal 

 result. Horses are more liable to dyspepsia after severe or prolonged 

 exertion, especially if the food be difficult of digestion, or in too large 

 quantity. The symptoms of acute indigestion are generally sudden in their 

 onset. There is fulness of the abdomen, and the horse is restless, and shows 

 indications of colicky pain. He lies down and rises again alternately, and 

 paws the ground with his fore feet. Eructations of wind, occasional 

 discharges of saliva from the mouth, and tremblings, especially in the 

 muscles of the left shoulder, are also among the symptoms of acute 

 indigestion. . Not uncommonly, actual vomiting occurs. \'omition is 

 thought by the general public not to be possible in the horse. This is a 

 great mistake. It is by no means very uncommon. Recently we had 

 under treatment a case of acute indigestion, caused by the rapid eating of a 

 very large amount of fresh clover, and the animal vomited a large quantity 

 of green liquid, which passed through the nostrils and mouth. In severe 

 cases, the pain is very acute, and the horse throws himself about wildly, and 

 frequently looks towards his flanks. The pulse and respirations are 

 accelerated, and in some instances the horse, instead of manifesting pain, 

 remains dull and semi-comatose, and the breathing may become stertorous. 

 He refuses his food, is moved with difficulty, and attempts to press his 



