SPASMODIC COLIC, 
39 
truth be applied to the treatment which is had recourse to. 
In a great many instances the affection ends in resolution 
without the administration of any medicinal agents, and it is 
a well-known fact that nearly every one who makes any 
pretensions to horse management (and in these days who 
does not?) has his specific. In the old coaching days, which 
we are wont to hear ^o much of, gin and pepper was the 
popular remedy, and even in the preseut day a great many 
have recourse to it. We use agents of a stimulant or seda- 
tive — diuretic or cathartic class. It appears that agents 
possessing either of these qualities seem to have per se anti- 
spasmodic properties. 
In practice it will always be best to thoroughly diagnose 
the case, and if we feel certain there is any retention of 
urine, depend upon it it is the best practice to introduce the 
catheter (after it has been lubricated) up the urethra and 
drawoff the contents of the bladder. I have noticed that 
after the removal of the urine a certain relief has resulted, 
which will materially assist' in the recovery of the patient. 
Afterwards the following draught will be found beneficial : — 
5k 01. Tereb., §iv ; 
Tr. Opii, Bj; 
Aqua, §vnj. 
Misce. 
After this, backrake him well, have a cloth thrown over 
him, and let him be placed in a well- ventilated, well-littered 
loose box, and left to himself for an hour. If at the expi- 
ration of an hour no relief is obtained, I would advise a 
clyster to be thrown up, and a draught which I usually 
administer, composed — 
Tr. Opii, ^ij ; 
Sp. Eth. Nit., ^ij ; 
Aqua, ^viij. 
Misce. 
Sometimes I give ^ss of the Gum Opium instead of the 
Tr., which I find equally answers. In the Veterinarian , 
vol. xxxv.. p. 326, Professor Brown speaks highly of Tr. 
Aconite in small doses every three or four hours, and when- 
ever I have used that drug it has in nearly every instance 
had the desired effect. I do not give the drug in small 
quantities, as the great constitutional disturbance which is 
set up by the disease calls for a potent remedy, which must 
have an immediate and certain effect on the pulse. I there- 
fore have given Fleming's Tr. Aconite fliqxxv, and have 
found better results than from the opium ; in a word, after 
