PROGRESS OF VETERINARY SCIENCE AND ART. 
525 
crumbles with the slightest force ; the second is fatty de- 
generation. It is the first of these that is frequently asso- 
ciated with congestion — the vessels give way, and hemor- 
rhage is the result ; those portions of the organ where the 
blood-vessels remain intact have the clay colour and brittle 
consistence. The different appearances of the liver in dif- 
ferent cases, and in different parts of the same organ, are to 
be attributed chiefly to accidental hemorrhage. 
True rupture of the liver, w hich may occur in the healthy 
state, as the result of violence, must be distinguished here 
from effusions of blood, owing to the vessels becoming im- 
plicated during the progressive disintegration of the hepatic 
textures. The post-mortem signs are characteristic in either 
case. In the first, the healthy organ appears sliced; in the 
second, the tissues are friable and broken down, and there is 
abundant evidence of old-standing disease. Viewed both as 
a question of pathology and veterinary jurisprudence, this 
distinction is important, and it cannot be said, with Mr. 
John Field, that hemorrhage from the liver is only the result of 
structural disorganization. The case observed by Mr. Millot, 
that is referred to by Mr. Percivall, at once proves this, for 
the rupture of the liver was caused by the animal having- 
been kicked by other horses ; and it is very clear the organ 
might be injured like any other, by simple violence. 
Puncture of the Large Intestine in Flatulent 
Colic in the Horse. — In the Journal of Lyons for February 
and August of last year, reports of four cases of tympanitis, 
successfully treated by puncture, have been transcribed from 
the clinical note-books of the school. 
The four occurred wuthin six months, and Rey says these 
are facts, which, added to others published, leave no doubt 
as to the good result of this operation. M. Isnard also 
publishes two cases ; and one is a very striking one, from the 
menacing symptoms that w 7 ere instantaneously relieved by 
the operation. The three instances that are recorded in the 
August number of the Lyons Journal , and which w ere observed 
in the Veterinary College, show that the animals w’ere not 
completely restored until faeces and flatus abundantly escaped 
per rectum, after the exhibition of a purgative ; the puncture 
of the intestine, however, w as at all times attended with such 
an alleviation of urgent symptoms, as did not follow the 
use of clysters ; but it is to be remarked that the purgative 
was generally administered after the performance of entero- 
centesis. 
Rey and Lafosse have made numerous experiments to prove 
