272 THE COMMON COLICS OF THE HORSE 



an aimless blunder, as he stumbles forward and always 

 forward, until death, with some degree of suddenness and 

 with no antecedent period of ease, closes the scene. 



This is the usual run of the symptoms in a case of 

 torsion that is incomplete. One other point of impor- 

 tance, however, remains to be noted. It is the fact that 

 the case lingers on for so long as from twelve to eighteen 

 hours. The importance of this point lies in its value in 

 diagnosis, and I shall refer to it more fully later (see 

 p. 281). 



When torsion is complete — that is, when the bowel" 

 has made a whole turn on itself — then the symp- 

 toms are much more violently marked. This will be 

 readily understood when we remember that in incom- 

 plete twist we have venous strangulation only, while in 

 complete twist we get arterio-venous, or complete, stran- 

 gulation. In this latter case not only are the symptoms 

 more violent, but they are developed with a marked 

 degree of suddenness. Although the veterinary surgeon 

 is not usually in attendance early enough to note it, 

 there is at the outset the same irritable emptying of the 

 uninvolved portion of bowel, following which the fatal 

 symptoms come on at an alarming pace. 



At the very commencement the pulse is bounding and 

 almost incompressible, and the visible mucous mem- 

 branes are highly injected. The pains are agonizing and 

 persistent, and can be checked not even by the most 

 heroic exhibition of sedatives. Marked muscular tremors 

 are early in evidence, profuse perspirations bedew the 

 body, and there is an early exhibition of the haggard 

 and despairing castof countenance. The whole attitude 

 of the patient, in fact, and exclusive of anything gained 

 by a close examination, is at once indicative of rapidly 

 approaching dissolution. It is true that the case may 



Digitized by Microsoft® 



