GASTRIC IMPACTION 49 



prepared to grant that in some cases such may be the 

 exciting cause. That admission, however, does not 

 detract one iota from what I have already said. If one 

 is to always accept that explanation of the case, how is 

 one to account for those odd attacks occurring in the 

 winter months, when the whole of the provender is dry 

 corn and chopped wheat or oat straw ? I have seen 

 cases where the diet was wholly composed of the foods 

 I have mentioned. 



Again, how is it that one animal out of five or six, all 

 eating the same food from the same manger, is sometimes 

 seen to be attacked ? No explanation of the latter case 

 can be found save the fact that the animal under 

 observation is a notoriously ' greedy feeder.' 



Symptoms. — Percivall sagely remarks : ' The un- 

 naturally filled stomach produces for the first time a 

 sense of satiety ; the horse grows heavy and drowsy, 

 reposes his head upon the manger, falls asleep, and makes 

 a stertorous noise.' 



His whole appearance is dull and listless, and the 

 abdomen is visibly distended, though not to the extent of 

 causing pain. The pulse becomes full and bounding 

 and its number of beats below the normal, while the 

 respirations are heavy and slow. The bowels become 

 more or less torpid, though the rectum is frequently 

 found full of faecal matter. The torpidity seldom or 

 never runs the length of actual stasis or obstruction. 

 Commonly the visible mucous membranes are injected 

 and tinged with yellow. The mouth is dry and clammy, 

 and its odour offensive. There are no eructations of gas 

 and no attempts at vomition. When urged to move, the 

 animal does so in a semi-unconscious manner, reeling 

 and staggering in his walk, and blundering blindly into 

 any object near him. 



4 



