90 THE CANADIAN HOKSE 



In older animals it usually arises from violent exertion, 

 and may occur in any part of the belly. It is often pro- 

 duced by being hooked or gored by an ox, or staked in 

 leaping a fence — not unfrequently by coming forcibly in 

 contact with a rail or a snag in galloping in a clearing. In 

 the entire horse the gut frequently escapes into the scrotu-u 

 from violent kicking or jumping. A very formidable case 

 of rupture sometimes occurs from castration, in' v?hich thes 

 bowel escapes after the removal of the stone, caused either 

 by previously eixisting hernia, or produced at the time by 

 the violent struggles during the operation. Occasionallyj 

 during an attack of colic, from the rolling and tossing about, 

 the midriff (diaphragm) is ruptured, allowing the stomach 

 or part of the bowels to escape into the chest, as in one case 

 which occurred in our practice in Toronto, in January I860, 

 in which the small intestines, to the extent of thirty feet, 

 were forced into the chest. 



Symptoms. — In foals, when occurring at the navel-opening, 

 the tumour is soft and pendant, and by steady pressure can 

 be pushed entirely up, and the opening through which it 

 escapes can be felt with the £nger, returning very soon when 

 the pressure is removed. When occurring in the scrotum of 

 the foal, it is easily distinguished by the size of the bag. 

 The symptoms in older animals vary according to circum- 

 stances. When occurring in the belly from accident or in- 

 jury, the foreign body may penetrate the skin and muscles 

 of the belly, perhaps wounding the bowels themselves, allow- 

 ing them to escape to a considerable extent, or the muscular 

 walls alone may be burst, and the bowel and its covering 

 (peritonaeum) descends into the sac formed by the skin. 

 This is recognised by its soft hature, and being easily pushed 

 up. The symptoms of displacement into the scrotum of the 

 stallion, or, as more commonly happens, merely into the 



