CHRONIO GASTRO-INTESTINAL CATARRH IN THE HORSE. 



83 



feeding, the admiDistration of indigestible, tainted, poor or laxative 

 food, also coarse, muddy and sandy fodder. An acker condemns 

 the exclusive feeding of bran and finely cut straw, and sustains his 

 opinion by calling attention to the frequency of chronic catarrh of 

 the stomach in millers' horses. 



Imperfect mastication and incomplete salivation of the food, in 

 old horses, often induce chronic catarrh of the stomach ; at other 

 periods of life it may be the consequence of diseases of the teeth 

 and of irregular dental surfaces. Therefore, crushed oats have 

 many advantages recommending them as horse food. 



Anything producing a stasis of blood in the mucous membrane 

 of the stomach or intestine ends sooner or later in chronic catarrh 

 of these organs. We may particularly mention : repeated acute 

 catarrhs ; stagnant conditions of the portal circulation, provoked 

 by chronic affections of the liver, or an alteration of the portal vein 

 itself ; also those produced in the posterior vena cava by lung or 

 heart disease (valvular insufficiency, pulmonary emphysema, hepa- 

 tization) ; blood-stasis in the intestinal walls, due to continued 

 contraction when the peristaltic movements are under the influence 

 of a reflex action (repeated colds) ; also intestinal hyperemia con- 

 secutive to the arterial emboli of verminous aneurism (Friedberger's 

 embolic catarrh of the large intestine).^ 



In these cases the blood-stasis is not the direct cause of the 

 catarrh, but it leads to organic alteration of the mucous membrane, 

 which renders it less resistant to the various irritations to which it 

 may be exposed. A persistent diarrhea often precedes chronic 

 catarrh ; this is observed, for instance, when repeated colds influence 

 the action of the intestine in relation to its peristaltic movements. 



The presence of numerous entozoa in the stomach may also pro- 

 duce chronic catarrh of this organ. We may particularly point 

 out: 1. The gad-fly larvse, which often produce serious digestive 

 troubles (Cambron, Lessona, etc.), especially in young horses ; the 

 species living in the stomach are the Gastrophilus equi et pecorum; 

 the Gastrophilus hœmorrhoidalis et nasalis is sometimes found there 

 in innumerable quantities. The Spiroptera megastoma which is 

 often found enclosed in the developed verminous cysts upon the 

 line of union of the two mucous membranes of the stomach ; these 

 cysts, which are usually purulent, vary in dimensions from the size 



1 Friedberger : Miinch. Jahresber., 1876-77-81. 



