OBSERVATIONS ON ETHER AND CHLOROFORM. 491 
ing the grooms in the yard. He would have eaten, but I ordered 
food to be withheld, and he is now perfectly restored, never having 
had a relapse. 
Further inquiry leads me to believe that the symptoms I have 
described sprang from over-feeding, as the proprietor put no check 
upon the provender, which was open for all the grooms, and the 
horse was a general favourite with the men about the stable. It 
was one of those cases in which the early symptoms of stomach 
staggers are mixed up with colic, and the diagnosis, when no 
history can be obtained, is then particularly difficult, especially as 
the indications are, in every instance of this kind, so modified as 
to be absolutely confused. I acknowledge that, in the first instance, 
I could not make up my mind as to the nature of the affection. 
Clearly it was not enteritis ; and though the slimy feces seemed to 
denote the peritoneum was involved, nevertheless the absence of 
a pulse and the freedom from pain on pressure contradicted the 
idea. There was no sign of inflammation, and the suddenness of 
the attack did not allow me to conjecture that the distress was 
consequent upon any thing that could be called exhaustion. The 
most marked symptoms indicated congestion and deep-seated ab- 
dominal pain, or what is generally classed under the head of colic. 
I knew not what I had to combat. 1 only saw the necessity there 
was for active measures, and I was not certain that any treatment 
could afford the relief which, if not quickly obtained, would be of 
little service ; therefore it was I resorted to those large doses that 
have been mentioned, and in every instance I obtained an effect 
which equally surprised and pleased me. 
The medicine certainly was not thrown away, for hardly was 
it swallowed before its operation was perceived. Still some will 
laugh at the narration of this case, and many will object to adopt 
the course which it recommends. It will be urged that the stable 
has fixed the price of the drench, and the practitioner will not be 
allowed to exceed it. No charge which will be sanctioned can 
remunerate the man who employs the doses I have stated, for no 
chemist would prepare the drinks at the sum which the horse- 
owner has been taught by custom to regard as settled. I acknow- 
ledge the full force of these objections; but at the same time I can- 
not forbear observing, that nothing pays the practitioner so badly 
as a fatal case. For my own part, I cannot think of the druggist’s 
bill when there is danger in the stable ; and I am happy in my 
conviction that, with the majority of our profession, this feeling or 
weakness is shared. We often lose money as well as rest, and 
congratulate ourselves if, in the end, we escape reproach: so it is 
in many cases, but not in every instance, and in practice we must 
