174 HOVE. 



this may be given in a quart bottle of cold water, and the 

 dose repeated in half an hour. Warm water is not suited 

 for the administration of ammonia, as this agent is very vola- 

 tile, and, under the influence of heat, would soon escape. 

 The greatest reliance may be placed in this method of treat- 

 ment. Another neutralising agent, recommended by Youatt, 

 is chlorinated lime; but Mr Finlay Dun says that it is of 

 little if of any service in the treatment of hove. I have 

 heard some practitioners extol the powdered corn or seeds 

 of the meadow saffron colchicum autumnale given in one- 

 drachm doses. This agent is a cathartic, and occasionally 

 acts as an emetic, and may, perhaps, be of service in favour- 

 ing the eructation of the gases from the rumen. 



Various stimulants are occasionally employed, and the 

 most common, but the most dangerous, is turpentine given in 

 linseed oil. We think it should be discarded for this pur- 

 pose, and in the absence of ammonia or its preparations, we 

 recommend the trial of salines. A dose of Epsom salts 

 sometimes relieves in a very short time, but the animal may 

 die before its effects are observed, and purgation may set in 

 without relief being afforded to the rumen. Enemata are of 

 value in conjunction with the remedies above mentioned, but 

 should the symptoms of suffocation be urgent, no hesitation 

 should be felt in relieving the animal by mechanical means. 

 The first method is by the passage of a hollow probang into 

 the rumen, as recommended first by Dr Munro; and the 

 second is to puncture the rumen with a trochar. 



There cannot be a more simple operation than puncturing 

 for hove. A trochar is usually employed, which with a 

 pointed stilet, and sufficiently large tube properly fitted so as 

 to transfix the belly and the stomach, the latter is perforated 

 at its most prominent part in the upper region of the flank.* 

 * See TJie Veterinarian's Vadc-Mccum. 



