DISEASES OF THE DIGESTIVE ORGANS. 71 
praved and capricious appetite is common in horses that have a stone 
forming in the stomachs. There is a disposition to eat the wood- 
work of the stable, earth, and, in fact, almost any substance within 
their reach. This symptom must not, however, be considered as 
pathognomenic, since it is observed when calculi are not present. 
Oceasional colics may result from these “ stomach stones,” and when 
the latter lodge at the outlet of the stomach they may give rise to 
symptoms of engorged stomach, already described. There is, of 
course, no treatment that will prove effective. Remedies to move the 
bowels, to relieve pain, and to combat inflammation should be given. 
Intestinal concretions (calculi or stones in the intestines).—These 
concretions are usually found in the large bowels, though they are 
occasionally seen in the small intestines. They are of various sizes, 
weighing from 1 ounce to 25 pounds; they may be single or multiple, 
and differ in composition and appearance, some being soft (com- 
posed mostly of animal or vegetable matter), while others are porous, 
or honeycombed (consisting of animal and mineral matter), and 
others are entirely hard and stonelike. The hair balls, so common 
to the stomach and intestines of cattle, are very rare in horses. 
Intestinal calculi form around some foreign body, as a rule—a nail 
or piece of wood—whose shape they miay assume to a certain extent. 
Layers are arranged concentrically around such nucleus until the 
sizes above spoken of are attained. These stones are also often 
found in millers’ horses, as well also as in horses in limestone dis- 
tricts, where the water is hard. When the calculi attain a sufficient 
size and become lodged or blocked in some part of the intestines, 
they cause obstruction, inflammation of the bowels, colicky symp- 
toms, and death. There are no certain signs or symptoms that re- 
veal them. Recurring colics of the type of impaction colic, but 
more severe, may lead one to suspect the existence of this condition. 
Examination through the rectum may reveal the calculus. 
The symptoms will be those of obstruction of the bowels. Upon 
post-mortem examinations these stones will be discovered mostly in 
the large bowels; the intestines will be inflamed or gangrenous about 
the point of obstruction. Sometimes calculi have been expelled by 
the action of a physic, or they may be removed by the hand when 
found te occupy the rectum. . 
As in concretions of the stomach, but little can be done in the way 
of treatment more than to overcome spasm (if any exists), and to 
give physics with the hope of dislodging the stone or stones and 
carrying them on and outward. 
Intussusception, or invagination.—This is the slipping of a portion 
of the intestine into another portion immediately adjoining, like a 
partially turned glove finger. This may occur at any part of the 
bowels, but is most frequent in the small guts. The invaginated por- 
