162 DISEASES OF THE HORSE. 



rises from the opei^^tion, it is produced by the violence of 

 struggling, or rising with too much of a jerk. When oc- 

 curring a few days after the operation, the cause may be 

 laid to the wound not healing and uniting properly. 



Symptoms. — As of colic ; the horse rising, lying down, 

 pawing, rolling, sweating, high fever and inflammation; 

 and, finally, gangrene, or mortification of the parts, and 

 death of the horse. 



General RemarTcs. — The termination of ruptures of 

 all kinds and varieties most to be dreaded, is that condi- 

 tion known as strangulation, which occurrence is indi- 

 cated by the restive condition of the horse, pawing, roll- 

 ing, sweating, etc., and if not relieved in a very short 

 time, the horse will die. To reduce strangulation, the 

 horse must be secured, and fastened; and every ingenuity 

 must be tried, to get the bowels back into their proper 

 place. No rule can be laid down to accomplish this, as 

 some ruptures are reducable, and others are not. But 

 the hands of the operator must be well oiled when hand- 

 ling the bowels, and the bowels kept scrupulously clean ; 

 and when they have been successfully placed into their 

 proper cavity, the horse will be at rest, and relieved from 

 pain. And to prevent the bowels from returning again, 

 the rupture must be closed by skewers made of iron, or 

 stiff wood, passed through the lips of each side of the 

 wound, half an inch from the edge, and waxed cord 

 wound round and over the skewers, in the form of the 

 figure 8. 



Metallic or silver wire is used by scientific veterinary 

 surgeons in securing the edges of the skin of ruptures 

 and injuries to the belly of all domestic animals, as the 

 best and most successful plan. 



Ruptures of the stomach, bowels and diaphragm, are 



