DISEASES OE THE DIGESTIVE ORGANS. 25 



bring on this disorder, or it may not be due to excess, but to eating 

 too hastily. Sometimes the quality of the food is at fault. Grass or 

 clover when wet by dew or rain frequently disorders digestion and 

 brings on tympanites; frozen roots or pastures covered with hoar 

 frost should also be regarded as dangerous. "When food has been 

 eaten too hastily, or when it is cold and wet, the digestive process is 

 imperfectly performed, and the food contained in the paunch fer- 

 ments, during which process large quantities of gas are formed. The 

 same result may follow when a cow is choked, as the obstruction in 

 the gullet prevents the eructation or passing up of gas from the stom- 

 ach, so that the gas continues to accumulate until tympanites results. 



Symptoms. — The swelling of the left flank is very characteristic, as 

 in well-marked cases the flank at its upper part rises above the level 

 of the backbone and when struck with the tips of the fingers emits a 

 drum-like sound. The animal has an anxious expression, moves 

 uneasily, and is evidently distressed. If relief is not obtained in time, 

 it breathes with difficulty, reels in walking or in standing, and in a 

 short time falls down and dies from suffocation. The distention of 

 the stomach may become so great that it pushes the diaphragm for- 

 ward against the lungs so as to squeeze and stop their movement, 

 thus preventing the animal from breathing, and in some instances 

 the case may be complicated by rupture of the stomach. 



Treatment. — If the case is not extreme, it may be sufficient to drive 

 the animal at a walk for a quarter or half an hour; or cold water by 

 the bucketful may be thrown against the cow's sides. In some cases 

 the following simple treatment is successful: A rope or a twisted 

 straw band is coated with pine tar, wagon grease, or other unsavory 

 substance, and is placed in the cow's mouth as a bit, being secured 

 by tying behind the horns. The efforts of the animal to dislodge this 

 object result in movements of the tongue, jaws, and throat that stim- 

 ulate the secretion of saliva and swallowing, thus opening the esoph- 

 agus, which permits the exit of gas, and at the same time peristalsis 

 is stimulated reflexly. In urgent cases the gas must be allowed to 

 escape without delay, and this is best accomplished by the use of the 

 trocar. The trocar is a sharp-pointed instrument ineased in a sheath, 

 which leaves the sharp point of the trocar free. (See PI. Ill, figs. 5a 

 and 5b.) In selecting the point for using the trocar, a spot on the 

 left side equally distant from the last rib, the hip bone, and the trans- 

 verse processes of the lumbar vertebrae must be chosen. Here an 

 incision about three-fourths of an inch long should be made with a 

 knife through the skin, and then, the sharp point of the trocar being 

 directed downward, inward, and slightly forward, is thrust into the 

 paunch. (PI. I.) The sheath of the trocar should be left in the 

 paunch so long as any gas continues to issue from it. If the canula 



