262 IRISH CENTRAL VETERINARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION. 
blood becomes impregnated with carbonic acid ; the heart has extra 
work to perform in sending the blood more frequently to the lungs 
to become oxidized, and part with its superabundance of carbonic 
acid. 
Treatment . — Consists in neutralizing the gas and allaying spasm, 
which, as I stated before, is almost sure to come on through disten- 
sion of the muscular coat. Many practitioners give nothing but 
bicarbonate of soda and water, others employ ammonia in its 
different forms, or chloride of lime, &c. &c. 
In fact, so numerous are the remedies for flatulent as well as for 
spasmodic colic, that each practitioner has his own, every one be- 
lieving his to be the best; in fact, the principal bulk of cases require 
nothing but simple treatment. So I will leave it as a matter for 
discussion, as to which is the best and most effectual remedy in 
both cases ; but no matter what you apply, some cases will, in spite 
of you, run on to enteritis. 
Enteritis , or inflammation of the bowels, may attack any portion 
of the intestinal canal, or either of the three coats — serous, muscu- 
lar, or mucous. The term enteritis has been most frequently applied 
to the commonest form of acute inflammation of the bowels, viz., 
that in whch all the textures are implicated. It generally attacks 
the small intestines of the thorough-bred horse, and the large 
intestines in the cart-horse. 
Causes . — Like colic, enteritis is often brought on by dashing cold 
w 7 ater over the body when the horse is in a state of perspiration ; 
but improper feeding, dry food and little water, worms, calcareous 
concretions, constipation, intussusception, tumours in the mesentery, 
in fact, anything that will produce colic may cause enteritis. 
Symptoms . — Like other forms of internal inflammation, its symp- 
toms may be ushered in by a shivering fit, but in most cases, from 
the first, we have all the symptoms of colic present; and it is of the 
utmost importance to discriminate between the two diseases. In 
spasmodic colic, as I stated before, we have violent fits of pain, then 
an interval of quiet. In enteritis the pain at first is not so acute ; 
there is no intermission ; we have distinct rigors, mouth hot, and 
a hard and frequent pulse. With these symptoms you may be sure 
you have a case of inflammation at hand, and not colic. If you 
mistake colic for enteritis, it is of no moment ; but, on the other 
hand, if you treat enteritis for colic, the consequences will be serious. 
The mistake is often made by the owners of horses, their grooms, or 
the first handy man in the neighbourhood, when the case is almost 
certain to prove fatal, their first remedy being brandy, whiskey, or 
gin, a smart trot, and the rubbing of the abdomen with the handle 
of a pitchfork by two strong men. When such treatment as this is 
adopted a hundred to one but we have a case of enteritis, and that 
of the worst form. First of all, stimulants may drive a case of 
spasmodic colic into enteritis; and, on the other hand, if enteritis 
is present, the treatment must aggravate the symptoms, and increase 
the sufferings of the poor animal. Pressure will to a certain extent 
relieve pain in colic, but will increase it in enteritis. Again we have 
