Tympanitic Indigestion of the Rumen. Bloating. 99 



and conditions, and its prevention and treatment must corre- 

 spondingly vary. 



Symptoms. The whole left side of the abdomen being occu- 

 pied by the rumen, its distension leads to an uniform swelling of 

 that side, differing from that caused by simple excess of solid in- 

 gesta in being more prominent high up between the last rib and 

 the outer angle of the ilium, and in giving out in this region a 

 clear tympanitic or drumlike resonance on percussion. It has 

 also a tense resiliency, like that of a distended bladder, easily 

 pressed inward by the finger but starting out to its rotundity the 

 moment the pressure of the finger is withdrawn. The distension 

 caused by overloading with solids bulges out lower down, is not 

 resonant but dull or flat when percussed, and yields like a mass 

 of dough when pressed retaining the indentation of the finger for 

 some time. The swelling of tympany, when extreme, rises above 

 the level of the outer angle of the ilium and even of the lumbar 

 spines on the left side, and if no relief is obtained the right side 

 may undergo a similar distension. 



Auscultation detects an active crepitation over the whole 

 region of the rumen, finer in some cases and coarser in others, 

 according to the activity of evolution and the size of the bubbles 

 of gas. The crepitation is especially coarse and loud in fer- 

 mentation of green food, and of spoiled potatoes or other tubers 

 or roots. 



In all acute or severe cases, there is anorexia, suspension of 

 rumination, and the normal movements of the compressed bowels 

 seem to be largely impaired, though the anus is protruded and a 

 little semi-liquid faeces or urine may be expelled at intervals. 

 The breathing is accelerated, short, and labored. The nostrils 

 are dilated, the nose extended, the face anxious, the eyes blood- 

 shot and the back arched. Froth may accumulate around the 

 lips, or the mouth may be held open with the tongue pendent. 

 Sometimes a quantity of gas may suddenly escape with a loud 

 noise, but without securing permanent relief. The heartbeats 

 are violent and accelerated, the pulse encreasingly small and 

 finally imperceptible, and the visible mucous membranes are con- 

 gested and cyanotic. Pregnant females are very liable to abort. 



When the right flank as well as the left rises to the level of the 

 lumbar spines death is imminent, and this may take place as early 



