262 COLIC. 



which accumulates in intra-uterine life becomes hard, and can- 

 not be expelled, giving rise to colic and very urgent symptoms. 

 Injections are to be relied on, especially if employed early. 



COLIC. 



Under this general term must be included a variety of 

 conditions, all giving rise to abdominal pain. In the horse 

 there is no more common or more frequently fatal affection 

 than that which has received the names of spasmodic colic, 

 flatulent colic, indigestion, gripes, inflammation, stoppage, 

 and many more remarkable ones still. 



The Germans have divided colic into the true and false 

 kinds. The first being intestinal, and the second dependent 

 on disorder of the liver, or urinary apparatus, as in cases of 

 calculi, &c. We may define the true or intestinal colic to be 

 a spasmodic affection of the intestine, never inflammatory, 

 and not having a tendency to run on to inflammation, as 

 most authors, teachers, and practitioners still erroneously 

 believe, but due to some primary cause which interferes with 

 the regular peristaltic movement of the intestine, and some- 

 times brought on by a combination of circumstances, the 

 most trivial of which is not unfrequently regarded as the real 

 cause of the disturbance. 



Causes. The great causes of colic are overfeeding, bad 

 and irregular feeding, over-work, and neglecting the first signs 

 of any intestinal derangement, indicated by constipation, &c. 

 With regard to over-feeding, it is certain that if horses are 

 crammed simply because they have a voracious appetite, 

 the intestines become over-loaded, and spasms soon appear. 

 Some Scottish farmers give their horses between twenty and 

 thirty Ibs. of oats daily. Under the head 'bad feeding/ we 

 might include the abominable boiled-meat system. Hard- 

 worked horses in Scotland get mixtures of corn and sheel- 



