INTESTINAL OBSTRUCTION. iSl 



round the box; it is difficult to divert the attention of the animal 

 from itself; after moving round once or twice a sudden halt will 

 be made and the head will be turned to the side the most pain is 

 experienced, while at others the nose will be rested on the exact 

 locality of the obstruction. After a few turns the animal will lie 

 down again, roll, and then maintain the recumbent position for a 

 few minutes, suddenly jumping up again and repeating the fore- 

 going movements; meanwhile, according to the urgency of the 

 pain, sweat breaks out ov-er various parts of the body, and at 

 times so profuse is the secretion that the coat is thoroughh' sat- 

 urated and it can be observed dripping off the bottom of the 

 abdomen. In our experience one symptom is diagnostic of calcu- 

 lus that we have never observed in a case of twist or other form of 

 obstruction, namely, the hor.se places itself with its tail and quart- 

 ers firmly pressed against the walls of the stable and at the same 

 time urges as though to effect a passage of faeces. 



In cases of twist, invagination and incarceration of the intes- 

 tines, the pulse and respirations are more properly influenced than 

 when a calculus is the cause of obstruction; the respirations are 

 urgent and hurried at all times and the pulse gradually gets more 

 rapid, hard and wiry unless relief be afforded until ultimately the 

 animal is so worn out and exhausted that no pulse is perceptible. 

 We have remarked in quite a number of cases of obstruction the 

 animal becomes after awhile very impatient of the pain, especiall}' 

 in cases of ht'i'st. 



Treatment. — There are three remedies that are under their 

 own respective indications capable of effecting a cure in cases of 

 incarceration, invaginatio7i and heist, and of occasionall}^ affording 

 at least temporary relief when a calculus is the cause of obstruc- 

 tion, and they are Nux vomica, Plumbum and Belladonna and in 

 the foregoing order their value and importance may be ranged. 



Nux vomica ix. Constipation is a most important indication, 

 especially when accompanied by frequent ineffectual efforts at 

 evacuation; a distended condition of the abdomen with flatus (or 

 wind) ; hiccough and rising of either gas or food ; a prolapsed con- 

 dition of the anus as the result of repeated straining; the pains, 

 while they may be more or less continuous, are certainly spas- 

 modic, namely, worse at one time than another. 



Plumbum 3X, is a most effectual remedy in cases of obstruction 



