254 THE COMMON COLICS OF THE HORSii 



sufficiently powerful to favourably influence intestinal 

 secretion, but not of such potency as to prevent an active 

 stimulant treatment being afterwards adopted. Of these 

 we have the choice of two that are equally reliable. 

 One, linseed oil, mild in its action, may be used freely, 

 without fear of untoward result. The other, aloes, must 

 be used with comparative caution. 



The strictures heretofore placed on aloes must therefore 

 be read in the light of this later experience. That their 

 circulation in the earlier edition of this book has served 

 to point out to others the value of a solely stimulant 

 treatment I am in the happy position of being fully 

 assured.i For that reason, and that they may, perhaps, 

 serve the same purpose again, I have allowed them to 

 stand. Simply, I tack on this addendum and give the 

 practitioner, with his case before him, and with the 

 advantages and disadvantages of either method duly 

 weighed, the onus of making choice. 



After all is said and done, the question as to which of 

 two aperients one should use is only a detail of minor 

 importance in that treatment of equine intestinal impac- 

 tion which it is the main motif of this book to advocate. 

 That treatment this qualification concerning aloes is not 

 intended to affect at all. 



• See Preface to the Second Edition. 



