l62 VETERINARY HOMCEOPATHY. 



Stances is decidedly small; some advantage might possibly accrue 

 from repeatedly blistering the surface of the skin over the dilata- 

 tion, or from a light application of the actual cautery (firing iron) 

 over the same. By some such a prescription will doubtless prove 

 curious reading in a homoeopathic work, but it is strictly in 

 accordance with the principle. Inflammation is probably the 

 cause of the dilatation, therefore produce inflammation to cure it; 

 we shall have cause to refer to this subject under some forms of 

 lameness in which nothing but the firing iron is of the slightest 

 use, therefore will not dilate upon it here beyond affirming our 

 belief in its utility under such conditions; the inflammation set 

 up by the firing iron will cause the dilated muscular wall to con- 

 tract and so do away with the distention. If the dilatation is not 

 too large and of long standing, continued pressure for a consider- 

 able period will sometimes affect the desired object, but the incon- 

 venience to the animal of such an application would be much more 

 serious than the temporary' pain inflicted by the cautery, and 

 would not prove so effectual. 



If a horse swallows .something that will not pass into the 

 stomach becau.se it is too large to do so, and becomes fixed in the 

 gullet, which is occasionally experienced with a greedy feeder, 

 the swelling will be plainly visible; if not .so by reason of the- 

 obstruction being in a portion of the oesophagus that is not exposed 

 to ocular demonstration, the horse refuses food, slavers at the 

 mouth; if he drinks, the liquid returns through the nose; spas- 

 modic contraction of the muscles of the neck will be observable, 

 and the animal keeps on making futile efforts at swallowing; the 

 easiest iiiethod of getting over this difficulty is to pass the instru- 

 ment called the probang down the gullet until the obstruction is 

 met with, when great care is called for lest the mucous membrane 

 be injured or the muscular walls are ruptured; the probang should 

 be well oiled, and firm but gentle pressure used to move on the 

 obstacle; if possible this should be entrusted to a veterinary sur- 

 geon, as the removal of a foreign agent from such a position 

 demands great care and .some experience. 



GASTRITIS— INFLAMMATION OF STOMACH. 



We now come to consider the various disorders affecting the 

 fiQjt important natural dilatation of the digestive tube, the stomach; 



