30 



of cases of stricture wo soou have dilatation of the gullet iu front of the 

 constricted portion. This dilatation is due to the frequent accumula- 

 tion of solid food above the constriction. Little can be done in either 

 of these instances except to feed on sloppy or liquid food. 



Sacular dilatcdion of tJie cesophagus. — ^This niostl}^ foUoAvs chokinp:, 

 and is due to rupture of the muscular coat of the gullet, allowing the 

 internal or mucous coat to hernia or pouch through the lacerated 

 muscular walls. This sac or pouch gi-adually enlarges, from the fre- 

 quent imprisonment of food, until it presses upon the gullet and pre- 

 vents swallowing. When liquids are taken the solid materials are 

 partially washed out of the pouch. The symptoms presenting them- 

 seh'os ai"e as follows: The horse is able to swallow a few mouthfuls of 

 food without apparent distress; then he will suddenly stoj) feeding, 

 paw, contract the muscles of his neck, and eject a portion of the food 

 through his nose or mouth. As the dilatation thus emjjties itself the 

 symptoms gradually subside, only to reappear when he has again 

 taken solid food. Liquids pass without any, or but little, inconven- 

 ience. Should this dilatation exist in the cervical region, surgical 

 interference may sometimes prove eifectual; if in tlio thoracic portion, 

 nothing can be don^, and the jDatient rapidly i)asses from hand to 

 hand by " swapping, " until, at no distant date, the contents of the 

 sac become too firm to be dislodged as heretofore, and the animal 

 succumbs. 



DISEASES OF THE STOMACH. 



Imj^cictioii — Stoniach staggers, or gorged stomach. — These are terms 

 given to the stomach when it is so enormously distended with food 

 that it loses all power of contracting upon its contents. It occurs 

 most frequently in those horses that after a long fast are given a large 

 feed, or in those that have gained access to the grain-bin and eaten 

 ravenously. The jiroportionally small stomach of the horse, as well 

 as his inability to vomit, will account for the frequency of stomach 

 staggers. I have witnessed this trouble most frequently in t^eamstei's' 

 horses and those that are not fed as often as they should be. After a 

 long fast it is the custom to feed abundantly. The horse bolts his 

 food, and the stomach not having time to empty itself becomes dis- 

 tended and paralyzed. To prevent this condition it is sufficient to 

 feed at shorter intervals, to give small quantities at a time, and to 

 seciire the feed-bins so that if a horse gets loose he can not "stuff 

 himself to bursting. " 



Symptoms. — Percivall says that "a stomach simplj^ surcharged with 

 food, without any accompanying tympanitic distention, does not 

 appear to occasion local pain, but to operate rather that kind of 

 influence upon the brain which gives rise to symptoms, not stomachic, 

 but cerebral. Hence the analogy between this disease and staggers, 

 and hence the appellation for it of ' stomach staggers.' " The horse 

 soon after eating becomes dull and heavy, or drowsy; slight colicky 



