434 DISEASES OF DIGrESTION. 



wound antiseptically (p. 70). (6) Keep the animal without food 

 as long as practicable, until the wound has healed, which it will 

 probably do in about ten days. Wounds in the gullet should be 

 avoided if possible ; for they do not as a rule heal well. After 

 relieving a case of choking, the animal should be given only sloppy 

 food, so as to allow the irritated mucous membrane of the gullet 

 to regain its healthy condition. 



Food and drink in the form of brown (Demerara) sugar and 

 water can be advantageously given by the rectum (p. 643). When 

 food has to be given by the mouth, it should be in a sloppy con- 

 dition, so as to irritate as little as possible the mucous membrane 

 of the mouth. 



Prolapse of the Rectum. 



In mild cases, this accident consists of the protrusion from the 

 anus of mucous membrane, which, on becoming inflamed and in- 

 filtrated, may present a rounded mass of about a foot broad, with 

 a depression in its centre. In some cases, the bowel itself comes 

 down. 



It may come on from straining due to colic, constipation, foal- 

 ing, or sexual excitement, or from paralysis. 



TREATMENT. — ^Remove any impacted dung, and endeavour, by 

 steady pressure, to replace the part after having anointed it freely 

 with oil. If this does not succeed, scarify the mucous membrane 

 freely with a lancet, and encourage the bleeding by the application 

 of warm water, and, when the swelling has gone down, again 

 attempt to replace the part. Keep the animal for some days on 

 soft food, in which a pint of linseed oil may be given daily with 

 advantage. West's Uterine and Anal Clamp, made by Huish, is 

 a very useful instrument in these cases. 



Calculi and Concretions. 



NATURE. — In the bowels of the horse, especially in the large 

 intestine, and very rarely in the stomach, balls of undigested 

 material are sometimes found, which occasionally may attain to a 

 diameter of five or six inches, or even more. As they become 

 larger and larger, they usually cause death eventually from ob- 

 struction and pain. They are of three varieties. (1) Phosphatic 

 calculi (Fig. 143), which look like rounded and polished stones, 

 and are chiefly composed of phosphate of magnesia and lime. 

 They are of a much greater specific gravity than the other two 

 kinds. An ordinary weight for these calculi is 2 or 3 lbs. ; al- 



