THE 
VETERINARIAN. 
VOL. XLIII. 
No. 50 5. 
JANUARY, 1870. 
Fourth Series. 
No. 181. 
Communications and Cases. 
PURGATIVES IN PERITONITIS. 
By Professor Ferguson, H.M.V.S., Dublin. 
In the treatment of traumatic peritonitis in the horse, 
resulting from the operation of. castration, or from the acci- 
dental wounding of the abdomen, recourse is very commonly 
had to purgatives, most frequently to aloes, either in the 
solid form or in solution. According to my experience the 
propriety of giving purgative medicine in cases of peritonitis, 
unless in exceptional ones, is very questionable. I was first 
led to this conclusion from having observed, in hospital 
practice, that in peritonitis of the human subject the action 
of purgative medicine was almost always immediately pre- 
ceded and accompanied by a great increase of pain, often 
amounting to agony, even in cases in which, previous to the 
peristaltic motion of the intestines being increased by the 
action of the medicine, the patient had felt comparatively 
at ease as long as the trunk and limbs were kept motionless, 
and the entire frame in the most favorable position to ensure 
immobility of, and freedom from pressure on, the abdominal 
viscera and the parts either covered, formed, or lined by the 
peritoneum. 
The increase of suffering and aggravation of other 
symptoms, caused in peritonitis by the action of purga- 
tives, are attributable principally to the great amount 
of friction to which the inflamed surfaces are exposed 
by the medicinally increased movements of the intestines 
among themselves within the abdominal cavity, and against 
the other viscera contained therein, as well as against the 
lining of its parietes. The torpid state of the bowels of 
animals affected with peritonitis, even if fed for a consider- 
able time previous to the attack on laxative food, may be 
XLIII, 1 
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