158 VBTEEINAEY HYGIENE 



day has perhaps not varied more than a few ounces one way 

 or the other, where the hours of feeding, watering, and work 

 have been carried out with clockwork regularity, in fact, 

 where every condition has been present to ensure success, 

 yet one day it fails, and the animal is seized with colic 

 from no apparent cause. 



Such cases are frequently met with amongst large bodies 

 of horses ; the most careful enquiry fails to reveal the 

 slightest irregularity in stable management, and these cases 

 can only be regarded as due to some stomach or intestinal 

 cause, which suspended temporarily or completely the 

 digestion of the food, with the result that it acted as an 

 irritant. Whatever it is, the cause belongs to the animal 

 and is not outside it. 



But there are conditions operating from without which 

 seriously affect the digestibility of food, and one, if not the 

 chief cause, is work. A hard day's work may produce 

 colic ; or work harder than usual, and especially if pro- 

 longed beyond the time the animal is generally worked for, 

 is a fruitful cause of colic, through indigestion. During 

 ordinary work both stomach and intestinal digestion go 

 on as usual, but during excessive or severe work, it is a 

 fair assumption that in animals which are not used to it, 

 digestion is affected. It may be secondary to muscular 

 fatigue, or concomitant with it, but digestion certainly 

 appears to be suspended, and the food in the stomach or 

 more particularly intestines sets up irritation. 



Why this indigestion is produced is far from clear, it 

 may be from loss of fluid from the intestinal canal the 

 result of sweating and respiration, or it may be a pure sus- 

 pense of digestive action ; but the important fact remains 

 that colic and work are intimately connected, and that is 

 why more cases of colic occur during the late afternoon 

 and night, than occur during the early part of the day. 



The sympathy between the stomach and skin shows itself 

 in more than one way; the peculiar condition known as 

 ' hide bound ' in poor and unthrifty horses is universally 

 recognised. But there are distinct pathological conditions 



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