352 Veterinary Medicine. 



plug upon wet or icy ground, and of stallions in mounting mares. 

 In the Omnibus Company's (Paris) horses Palat found 35 cases 

 in entire horses, 23 in mares, and 11 in geldings. The stallions 

 in the stables were fewer than the mares and geldings put to- 

 gether, but it does not appear that the difference was sufficient to 

 make the above figures very significant. These stallions it should 

 be added, are not used for breeding, so that the statistics have no 

 bearing on the effect of mounting. 



Palat's figures show a greater number of cases in summer, than 

 in winter. There were 58 cases from April to October and but 21 

 from November to March. It would seem as if the relaxation of 

 the system and mesentery in summer more than counter-balanced 

 the combined effect of slipping on ice and sudden chills. 



A large proportion of the cases have been found in horses that 

 have died of colic, or which have been cast for operation, and the 

 recent character of the lesions has often shown that we must 

 look upon them as the result of the tumultuous peristalsis, and the 

 lying, rolling, sitting and other .sudden and unwonted movements 

 performed. A heavily loaded portion of bowel, occupying a posi- 

 tion slightly lower than a lighter portion or parallel to it, suddenly 

 moves by gravitation when their relative positions are altered as 

 in rolling, decubitus, or rising, and it thereby becomes twLsted 

 upon itself. Or a portion of intestine filled with liquid or gaseous 

 contents is suddenly emptied by the passage of the.se onward into 

 another and the latter portion of intestine or some other lodged 

 alongside it, in moving to fill the place, rotates upon itself and 

 e.stablishes a volvulus. 



Hard worked horses which are subjected to stimulating feeding 

 are much more frequently attacked than those which have light 

 work and feeding. In the same way newly harvested hay or oats, 

 spoiled or otherwise indigestible food have apparently been pro- 

 ductive causes. Cold drinks, and exposure to cold draughts have 

 been similarly charged. Indeed any cause of indigestion and 

 colic may be held to predispose to volvulus. 



Lesions. Seat. Twisting of the small intestine is impossible 

 in the duodenum, and for the floating portion it is far more com- 

 mon in the ileum and terminal portion of the jejunum where the 

 mesentery is long than in the anterior jejunum where it is short. 



The double colon from the sternal portion to the pelvic flexure 



