44 



attention must be given it. As a rule, it will only be necessary to give 

 a few injections of soapy water in the rectum and to introduce the 

 finger through the anus to break down any hardened mass of dung 

 found there. If this is not effective, a purgative must be given. Oils 

 are the best for these 3'oung animals, and I mostly select castor oil, 

 giving from 2 to 4 ounces. The foal should always get the first of the 

 mother's milk, as this milk, for a few days, j)ossesses decided laxative 

 properties. If a mare, while suckling, is taking laudanum or similar 

 medicines, the foal should be fed during this time by hand and the 

 mare milked upon the ground. Constipation in adult horses is mostly 

 the result of long feeding on dry, innutritions food, deficiency of intes- 

 tinal secretions, scanty water supply, or lack of exercise. If the case 

 is not complicated with colicky symptoms, a change to light, sloppy 

 diet, linseed gruel or tea, with x^lenty of exercise, is all that is required. 

 If colic exists a cathartic is needed. In very many instances the con- 

 stipated condition of the bowels is due to lack of intestinal secretions, 

 and when so due, must be treated by giving fluid extract of belladonna 

 three times a day in 2-dram doses, and handful doses daily of Epsom 

 salts in the feed. 



ALIMENTARY CONCRETIONS — GASTRIC AND INTESTINAL. 



Gastric concretions, calculi {stones) i)i the stomach. — There are jjrob- 

 ably but few symptoms exhibited by the horse that will lead us to sus- 

 pect the presence of gastric calculi, and possibly none by which we can 

 unmistakably assert their presence. Stones in the stomach have been 

 most frequently found in millers' horses. A small i)iece of the mill-stone 

 or other foreign body may serve as a nucleus around which is deposited 

 in layers the calcareous substances which abound in their feed (the 

 sweepings of the mill floor, mixed with good food). I have noticed, and 

 it is generall}^ recorded by veterinary writers, that a depraved and 

 capricious aj^petite is common in horses that have a stone forming in 

 their stomach. There is a disposition to eat the Avood-work of the sta- 

 ble, earth, and, in fact, almost any substance within their reach. This 

 symptom must not, however, be considered as pathognomonic, since it 

 is observed when calculi are not present. Occasional colics may result 

 from these "stomach stones," and when these lodge at the outlet of the 

 stomach they maj' give rise to symi^toms of engorged stomach, already 

 described. I remember one instance in which I found a stone that 

 weighed nearly 4 iiounds in the stomach of a horse. 



The position that seems to afford the most relief to the afflicted ani- 

 mal is sitting upon the haunches. Constipation may or may not be 

 l^resent. From all this we may conclude that there is reason to sus- 

 pect the i^resence of stone in the stomach, if there is a history of 

 depraved appetite; repeated attacks of colic (and particularly if these 

 have recovered ahruptly) ; and the position sought by the horse while 

 suffering — sitting on the haunches, or standing with the front feet 



