202 THE COMMON COLICS OF THE HORSE 



thickness, firm and dense, and almost hard to the feel. 

 The peritoneal and muscular coats still adhere closely, 

 but they are thickened and swollen, and soaked with 

 effusion. Still, they do not appear to be acutely or 

 actively inflamed. The mucous coat is black or dark- 

 purple coloured, the seat of the most intense and 

 evidently acute (or it may be passive) inflammation, but 

 still not much thickened ; its inner lining is black and 

 dirty-coloured, studded with minute openings, while the 

 space between the mucous and muscular layers is filled 

 and gorged and swelled with effusion, the chief cause by 

 far of the increased thickness of the bowel, and the 

 effusion is clear, not dark-coloured at all ; while in the 

 peritoneal folds, connecting the divisions of the gut, 

 lymph, watery but clear and amber-coloured, as from a 

 pleuro-pneumonia lung, may be found in abundance. 



' If this is simple acute inflammation, where in the 

 animal economy have we another example of such rapid, 

 fatal, and extraordinary results in the space of a few 

 hours from simple, pure, acute inflammation, and 

 nothing else ? 



' Is it due simply and solely to the presence and 

 mechanical irritation produced by large quantities of 

 indigested material in the organs ? Then, surely, a 

 horse with a 13-pound dust-ball, or one packed with 

 fodder beside, should be its readiest victim. But we 

 know that such is not the case. Is embolism the cause ? 

 I believe, in one or two instances, one might be justified 

 in saying so. Is it anthrax ? I do not think the lesions 

 justify that conclusion. Is twist or displacement the key 

 to the mystery ? I believe in some this does supply the 

 key, and that some of the so-called cases of inflamed 

 bowels are simply cases of twist or displacement ; but, 

 on the other hand, of the many cases I have examined 



