DISEASES OF THE DIGESTIVE SYSTEM. 179 



and the ticks migrate to the lambs, causing them to bite, and 

 tear out the wool, which they swallow in large quantities, it is 

 liable then to produce conditions which are apt to terminate 

 fatally. Calculi, composed of stony or mineral material, formed 

 round some object, which acts as a nucleiis, such as a nail-head or 

 piece of gravel, are frequently found in the bowels, where they 

 also effect little harm, forming pouches or depressions in the bow- 

 els, where they rest, and it is only when through some cause or 

 other they become ejected from these pouches that they are liable 

 to cause colicky symptoms, which may terminate fatally through 

 inflammation of the bowel. 



Bcmia^ Rupture. 



Of this we have several different kinds, depending on their 

 location. Hernia in general is a protrusion of a part of an in- 

 testine, through an opening in the peritoneal covering of the 

 abdominal cavity. Hernia is recognized as a fluctuating tumor; 

 when occurring in the middle of the belly near or at the navel 

 it is termed umbilical hernia. When in the scrotum, as is some- 

 times seen in rams, it is called scrotal hernia. When above the 

 scrotum, high up on the inside of the flank it is termed ingiainal. 

 Should an intestine protrude through the midriff or diaphragm, 

 or should that muscle become ruptured from any cause it is 

 termed diaphragmatic hernia. Should the aperture through 

 which the bowel exudes be small so that the bowel becomes con- 

 stricted and the free passage of the faeces becomes interferred 

 with, strangulation takes place, in which event the bowel outside 

 the opening becomes congested and swollen, gangrene sets in, 

 the bowel sloughs and the animal quickly dies from the effects. 



Diaphragmatic Bemia. 



Always results from flatulence, due to accumulation of 

 gases in the stomachs, which, through pressure on the midriff, 

 cause it to rupture; this condition is always fatal. 



