676 
STRANGULATION OF THE INTESTINES OF THE 
HORSE. 
By James Macer, M.R.C.V.S., Somersham, Hants. 
On Monday evening, July 25th, about 6 o’clock, I was 
summoned to attend a bay cob gelding, supposed to be suffer- 
ing from spasmodic colic. My partner, Mr. Hill, attended, 
and found the case as follows : — The animal had been driven 
through this town to a neighbouring fair, and was first noticed 
to be unwell about 10 o’clock in the morning. Some time 
afterwards a farrier was called in, who gave him a drink , and 
afterwards some brandy ; the animal was then led towards 
home, but could get no farther than our place. Mr. Hill found 
the pulse quick and wiry; ears, extremities, and surface of 
body cold ; breathing greatly accelerated ; the visible mucous 
membrane congested ; and the animal suffering intense pain 
without any intervals of ease. From what he saw he concluded 
that he had a case of strangulation of the intestines to deal 
with, and at once told the man so ; also intimating that the 
case was a hopeless one ; but as its owner desired him to do 
something for it, he administered Tine. Hyoscyamus f. §ij, 
Tine. Aconite f. u\xv, in Aqua, and applied counter-irritants 
to the abdomen. 
I saw the animal, in conjunction with Mr. Hill, at 8 p.m., 
when the symptoms had increased in severity. We again 
administered a powerful sedative, and ordered hot-water 
fomentations to be constantly applied to his abdomen. At 
10 p.m. we found our patient much the same, and backraked 
him and gave an enema, and again stimulated the abdomen 
and gave Gum Opii in solution every two hours ; but in 
spite of our treatment he succumbed shortly after 4 o’clock 
the following morning. Some time prior to death, knowing 
the case would terminate fatally, I experimentally performed 
parenthesis abdominis to relieve the tympany, which greatly 
eased the animal. 
At 9 a.m. we, in company with Mr. Johnson, a surgeon of 
this town, made a post-mortem examination of the body, which 
revealed the following state of things : — The lungs showed 
traces of old disease, heart healthy ; on examining the abdomi- 
nal viscera we found throughout the intestinal tube an inflamed 
condition of the tissues ; but our chief attention was called to 
the small intestines, which were in one mass of knots, and 
readily accounted for death; the stomach was filled with 
undigested beans, chaff, &c., which I consider to be the 
