82 COLICS AND THEIR TREATMENT 



Straining. We once ruptured a horse's floating colon by 

 applying too much force to the pump, an occurrence that 

 shows the operation is not without its hazards. 



Our method in use today, but which we hope to im- 

 prove when we have finally invented the proper instru- 

 ment, is as follows : 



A hose is passed into the floating colon as far as pos- 

 sible and then the rectum is packed with cotton wads 

 until it is full. Expulsion of the cotton is prevented by 

 holding the hand firmly against it within the anus. Then 

 hot water, previously prepared, in abundance, is pumped 

 into the horse until straining is produced. As soon as 

 the straining paroxysm ceases the pumping is resumed. 

 At first only a small quantity may be retained, but if the 

 operation is persistently repeated large quantities will 

 eventually find its way forward. The operation is a 

 mussy aflfair, I admit, but is the no less valuable on this 

 account. 



The Kellogg rectal lock syringe, which contains an in- 

 flated rubber bulb to prevent reflux, is probably an im- 

 provement over this more crude mechanism of ours, but 

 it, too, must be held in with the hands and the reflex is 

 by no means controlled by it. There is need of a hose 

 having an inflatable bulb as large as a football that is so 

 arranged that it can be retained in the rectum by means 

 of a harness. We are having such an aflfair constructed, 

 but since it has not been completed we cannot, of course, 

 venture any opinion as to its merits at this time. 



2. Instillation of Water Into the Stomach. — The 

 second operation we use against impactions of the colon 

 is the instillation of copious drafts of water into the in- 



