180 SJADD'S VETERINARY MEDICINE AND SURGERY. 
then lie down flat on his side, turn his head toward the ribs, and, 
after a short time, raise the forward parts, and sit on his haunchea 
like a dog. At last he fell over, gave two or three convulsi~e 
struggles, and died, just thirty-five minutes from the time we first 
saw him. 
Next morning, in company with Dr. Woop, we proceeded t& 
Ward’s establishment, but came very near being too late; for che 
metamorphosis of the horse into grease, fuod for swine, ete., had 
commenced. We however had an opportunity to maixe a casua) 
examination of some of the organs, and found a rupture of the 
stomach of some six or eight inches. The contents, some of which 
were found in the abdominal cavity, were very imperfectly (crudely) 
masticated. It may be proper, therefore, to name the disease in- 
digestion ; its consequences, tympanitis of the stomach; the cause 
of death, rupture of the stomach. The loss of vision referred to 
is one of the symptoms which generally attends acute indigestion. 
A person, who was present during the last moments of the ani- 
mal’s life, asked if we were not going to give or administer some- 
thing. Our reply was, that we never tortured dying horses by 
forcing drugs down their throats. One of our duties, as a physi- 
cian, was to know when to withhold medicine—when to do 
nothing ; and another equally important one was to be able te 
discriminate between a hopeless and curable case. The one ia 
question was beyond the aid of science, and, therefore, in view of 
“clearing our skirts” of being the cause of death by administer- 
ing the last dose (a charge that is often ungenerously laid at the 
door of medical men), we preferred to watch the dying animal, 
and give directions calculated to lessen the pains of death. 
Unfortunately for us and our patients, many employers form an 
estimate of medical qualification in proportion to the amount of 
medicine administered. They have an idea that the more medi- 
eine we give, the yreater are our efforts to control the disease, and 
the more willing are they to pay for the same, when, in ninety- 
uine cases out of a hundred, the very reverse is the case; for 
many diseases to which horses and cattle are subject have a definite 
type and limited duration, and would terminate favorably with 
leas medicine ; provided, however, the patient have the advantagea 
cf pure air, suitable diet, and proper management. Many medi- 
cal men are compelled to swerve from the line of their own con- 
victions merely to satisfy their employers. This suould not be 
