INDIGESTION. 61 



give twice daily for three or four days a drench composed of turpen- 

 tine or creolin 1 ounce and linseed oil 2 or 3 ounces, to be followed on 

 the fourth day by a physic of Barbados aloes 1 ounce, or one may give 

 santonine ^ to 2 drams, with calomel 1 to 2 drams. This dose should 

 not be repeated, and should be followed in six hours by 1 quart of lin- 

 seed oil. If worms infesting the large bowels are present, injections 

 into the rectum of infusions of tobacco, infusions of quassia chips, 

 one-half pound to a gallon of water, once or twice daily for a few 

 days, and follow by a physic, are most beneficial. It should be borne 

 in mind that intestinal worms are mostly seen in horses that are in 

 poor condition, and an essential part of treatment then is to improve 

 the appetite and powers of digestion. This is best done by giving 

 the vegetable tonics. One-half ounce of Peruvian bark, gentian, gin- 

 ger, quassia, etc., is to be given twice a day in the feed or as a drench. 



To improve the general condition one may give artificial Carlsbad 

 salts, 1 tablespoonful in each feed, and each dose to have added to it 

 3 to 5 grains of arsenious acid. 



Bot-fly larvae do not require special treatment unless they lodge in 

 the rectum, in which case they may be dislodged by injecting tobacco 

 water. If plenty of rock salt is allowed for horses to lick, they will 

 thus be protected against intestinal parasites to a slight but useful 

 degree. 



Indigestion or gastro-intestinal catarrh. — ^There is ample rea- 

 son for considering these conditions together from the facts that they 

 merge insensibly into each other and usually occur simultaneously. 

 This condition may be acute — that is, of sudden onset — or it may be 

 chronic. The changes of structure produced by this disease occur 

 in the mucous-membrane lining of the stomach and intestines. This 

 membrane becomes red from increased blood supply or from hemor- 

 rhage into it, it is swollen, and is covered by a coating of slimy 

 mucus. In some especially severe cases the membrane is destroyed 

 in spots, causing the appearance of ulcers or of erosions. 



The causes of indigestion are numerous, but nearly all are the 

 result of errors in feeding. 



Some horses are naturally endowed with weak digestive organs, 

 and such are predisposed to this condition. Anything that irritates 

 the stomach or intestines may cause this disease. Foods that the 

 animal is unaccustomed to, sudden changes of diet, imperfectly cured, 

 unripe, or damaged foods are all fruitful causes, and so are worms. 

 In suckling foals this condition may come from some disease of the 

 dam that renders her milk indigestible or from overexertion or over- 

 heating of the mare. Another prolific cause is bad teeth, making 

 mastication imperfect, and thus causing the horse to swallow his food 

 in a condition unfit for the action of the digestive juices. Working a 

 horse too soon or too hard after feeding may cause either colic or 



