APPENDIX 349 



I say that our present means of differentiation do not 

 allow of our attending a case of colic and giving a 

 diagnosis off-hand. That, therefore, even if we are called 

 in early, and assume it to be a case of simple spasm, the 

 early administration of a sedative will not be wise. The 

 spasm may turn out to be due to faecal obstruction, in 

 which case the anodyne will do harm rather than good. 



This all seems to call for some definition of the words 

 ' uncomplicated spasm '; but I venture to think that any 

 one of your here, when discussing the equine colics, would 

 hesitate to give those words a definite limitation. Given 

 a quickly occurring case of colic which an anodyne 

 rapidly relieves, the practitioner is only too apt to care- 

 lessly pass it over as ' spasm,' without a due inquiry as 

 to a possible ' something ' of which the spasm may have 

 been only the result. 



If we admit that spasm, or sudden painful contraction 

 of the intestinal muscular coats, comparable with the 

 ordinary cramp of voluntary muscle, is likely to occur, 

 then the name of simple spasmodic colic may still be 

 retained in our nomenclature. In granting that, how- 

 ever, we grant a great deal. We admit that this sudden 

 cramp may occur as a result of continued or excessive 

 work, as a result of cold or other equally indefinite cause, 

 quite independent of there being in the intestinal tube 

 poisonous materials generated from the ingesta. We 

 admit that we do not attempt to explain the cramp as a 

 result of the presence of food, whose very bulkiness or 

 indigestibility brings it about. We allow that no tem- 

 porary malarrangement of the intestines themselves may 

 be blamed. 



Can we allow all this ? I doubt it. Rather would I 

 suggest that what we now call a case of simple or 

 uncomplicated spasm is one in which the materials or 



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