38 GENERAL THERAPEUTICS FOR VETERINARIANS 



III. General Therapeutics of the Diseases of the 

 Intestines 



Pathology. — The diseases of the intestines most frequently- 

 requiring treatment are acute and chronic intestinal catarrh, very 

 often associated with gastric catarrh; constipation; colic, with its 

 numerous anatomical causes (impaction, displacements, etc.); the 

 different forms of enteritis, and helminthiasis (tape worms, round 

 worms). More rarely, foreign bodies and neoplasms are present 

 in the intestines, which are also affected secondarily in many of the 

 infectious diseases. The incurable chronic intestinal catarrhs, 

 which are especially frequent in cattle and dogs, and some cases of 

 chronic gastric catarrh are not merely a superficial disease of the 

 epithelium but a severe parenchymatous affection of the intestinal 

 glands, accompanied by atrophy of the latter and formation of new 

 connective tissue; the pathological processes being analogous to 

 those of chronic nephritis. These circumstances explain the 

 fruitlessness of treatment. 



Physiology. — The cause of the normal peristaltic movements of 

 the intestines is the reflex stimulation of the intestinal nerves by 

 the intestinal contents. In addition to a number of automatic 

 centres in the intestinal wall (plexus myentericus), there are also 

 constrictor and dilator nerve apparatuses. The accelerator nerve 

 is the vagus (cranial); the inhibitory nerve is the splanchnic 

 (spinal). Stimulation of the vagus causes intestinal contraction. 

 Stimulation of the splanchnic (morphine) retards or inhibits intes- 

 tinal contraction; paralysis of the splanchnic (atropine) increases 

 the intestinal movements. The average time required for food to 

 pass through the digestive tract is 3 to 4 days for horses and cattle, 

 sometimes double this period and more for the latter; for dogs 

 12 to 15 hours; swine 24 to 36 hours. 



The reaction of the contents of the anterior part of the intes- 

 tines is acid, because of the presence of the acid from the stomach. 

 The small intestines are therefore relatively poor in bacteria. In 

 the large intestines, and in herbivora even in the ileum, the reac- 

 tion is alkaline in consequence of the neutralization of the gastric 



