150 THE COMMON COLICS OF THE HORSE 



Called in at this stage, the young practitioner, unless 

 extremely wary, will be tempted to treat his case as one 

 of simple diarrhoea, and administer astringents and 

 sedatives. Needless to say, he commits a grave error. 

 If, on the other hand, he is possessed of caution, and 

 first explores per rectum, he will find a state of affairs 

 there that does not fairly substantiate his first surmises. 

 Certainly he will find the rectum, and probably also the 

 single colon, with their contents, in a fluid condition. In 

 addition, howe%-er, he will discover other portions of the 

 intestines still containing fcecal matter in a state of solidity — 

 proof positive that the purging has not been in existence 

 for long, and equally positive proof that the purgation 

 is not accountable for the dull pains that the carefully 

 elicited history of the case has spoken of. Immediately 

 on noting this, he will, if his clinical training be good, 

 also observe that the pains the animal is showing are not 

 of the kind that usually accompany the colic from exces- 

 sive purging (see Chapter XVII.). There is not the 

 tucked-up condition of the flank ; there is no excessive 

 peristalsis on auscultation ; there is no great alteration 

 in the number of respirations nor their character, and the 

 pulse is not in that weak and fluttering condition so 

 commonly coexistent with colic from superpurgation. 

 Neither will the animal show desire for the water offered 

 him. 



This affords a suitable opportunity for mentioning a 

 symptom, which, until now, has been carefully omitted. 

 It is a well-known fact that the horse suffering from 

 obstructive colic cannot, except in very rare cases, be 

 persuaded to drink. In this particular instance it is 

 almost proof that the animal is suffering from the pains 

 of obstruction, and not those occasioned by an excessive purge. 

 If it were the latter, he would be eagerly looking round 



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