236 THE COMMON COLICS OF THE HORSE 



mination should ensue. On the contrary, there are many 

 reasons for believing that resolution might just as readily 

 occur. As a matter of fact, I fully believe that when 

 these cases become more fully known someone will be 

 able to come forward with the description of a case or 

 cases, indisputable even to the feeling of the impacted 

 cascum during life, in which recovery takes place. 



Treatment. — So far as we yet knoAV, this is useless. 

 Briefly, the treatment adopted by Professor Gofton was a 

 dose of linseed oil followed by the administration of aloes. 

 After the purgation ceased the bowels continued to act, 

 although the amount of faeces passed was small — a fact 

 which was thought unimportant in view of the almost 

 complete inappetence. 



To continue, we will give Professor Gofton's own 

 words. 



' Belladonna, camphor, and carminatives did little to 

 relieve the continued symptoms of pain. The adminis- 

 tration of oil in combination with stimulants produced a 

 soft condition of the faeces and their more regular pass- 

 age, but effected no change in the caecum. Food was 

 offered after the first purge acted, in the shape of Hnseed 

 tea, boiled linseed, bran and long hay, but was partaken 

 of sparingly, and later not at all. The more rapidly-act- 

 ing purges in the form of eserine and arecoline were not 

 tried in the first case, but their exhibition in the second 

 and third was not productive of any response, nor did 

 they have any effect, so far as could be ascertained by 

 rectal exploration and later by post-mortem, on the con- 

 sistence or amount of food material in the impacted organ. 



' In the third case a method of treatment was tried 

 which, because of its novelty, is perhaps of sufficient 

 interest to be worth mentioning. The orthodox methods 

 of treating impaction had been tried and had failed the 



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