COLIC. 183 



no relief be afforded, then to save unnecessary^ pain, resort had 

 better be had to one or other of the anaesthetics before mentioned. 



COLIC. 



A common stable term indicating that violent spasmodic contrac- 

 tions of the intestinal muscular walls are taking place producing 

 sharp griping pains which come on in paroxysms with intermedi- 

 ate periods of partial relief; it has been affirmed that in colic of a 

 simple and uncomplicated character there is neither exaltation 

 of bodily temperature nor acceleration of pulse beat; if this be so 

 our experience is an unique one, for we invariably make it a rule 

 to take the temperature and test the frequenc}- of the heart beats 

 as revealed by the pulse, and it is in our experience a very rare 

 circumstance to find the pulse normal and certainly more often 

 than not the temperature is higher than in robust health; we 

 freely admit that there is a vast difference between the state of 

 pulse and temperature in a horse suffering from spasm of the 

 intestine and one that is the subject of enteritis (inflammation of 

 the intestines); but our experience does not allow us to confirm 

 the statement of other writers on this subject with respect to the 

 particular disorder now under consideration. It certainh- appears 

 at first sight a somewhat singular coincidence that horses are so 

 generally and very frequently the subjects of this disorder, unless 

 we account for it by susceptibility in consequence of the immense 

 volume of the intestinal area; this certainly does not strike us 

 as at all a satisfactory conclusion to draw, but probably in at- 

 tempting to define the various causes productive of or tending to 

 colic w^e may discover something like rational evidence to account 

 for its frequenc5\ Among agricultural horses food is in most cases 

 accountable for producing attacks of spasmodic and flatulent colic; 

 some owners seem, by their actions, to hold the opinion that any 

 rough material, never mind how coarse, is good enough for a 

 horse that works on land; the horse returns home after long 

 abstinence and being as most are a ravenous feeder, the digestive 

 organs are gorged with material that is not only bulky but also too 

 fibrous to yield to the action of the digestive juices; the conse- 

 quence is that large masses of this undigested material accumulate 

 where they act as an irritant; the muscular walls of the intestine 

 at this point become paralyzed after repeated ineffectual efforts 



