OBSERVATIONS ON COLIC. 
627 
more than one gentleman was disposed to look upon as excessive. 
Ether, 1 am assured, requires to be administered in far larger quan- 
tities than it has generally been given ; but, as I said in my previ- 
ous communication, it is my custom to combine it with such drugs 
as I conceive are indicated by the symptoms. No one more ear- 
nestly than myself can object to the medicine being thought to be 
singly able to combat all forms of abdominal disease ; but there is 
not an affection of this nature in which I do not believe it may be 
employed as a valuable adjunct. 
I am sure we do more good by reporting and considering our un- 
successful cases than by making known those in which we succeed. 
For my own part, I am not ashamed to acknowledge I have learned 
most from my failures. An unfortunate termination prepares the 
feelings to receive instruction, and the lessons then gained are cer- 
tain to be impressed upon the memory. The very lucky are seldom 
very wise ; but misfortune has been said to be the parent of poetry, 
and he who feels necessity generally has an impulse given to his 
invention. It is a pity so many are timid about seeking that ad- 
vice which candour would invite ; for it can reflect no disgrace if 
the ways of Nature are occasionally too intricate for our discern- 
ment. It is with life we have to deal, and with death we have to 
combat ; and, therefore, we cannot expect in every instance to 
triumph. 
I have lately had a case which I am not aware is, in the rapid- 
ity of its termination and the peculiarity of its symptoms, known 
to be of common occurrence. I was called about ten o’clock at 
night to see a horse in a stable about five hundred yards from the 
spot where I reside. The animal had that day been sent to run in 
an omnibus; but, some signs of uneasiness having been remarked, it 
was not put to work. The symptoms not abating, my attendance 
was requested. 
When I reached the place, I found the horse uneasy. There 
were indications of pain, but nothing of an acute character. The 
membranes were pallid — the pulse not to be counted at the jaw — 
and the extremities of even temperature. The coat looked rough 
— the eye dull — and the horse was restless. There was a little 
dung in the rectum, which was slightly coated with mucus, and 
the abdomen was a little swollen. The animal was evidently ill, 
and the mark of a blister under the jaw shewed it had recently 
been subjected to treatment. From what 1 saw, I concluded the 
horse had been prepared for work before the system was suffi- 
ciently recovered to endure exertion. I imagined the digestion was 
deranged, and, corroborative of the opinion, when back-raking 
the animal, I could distinctly feel a soft dull mass under my hand. 
I informed the proprietor that the intestines were impacted, but also 
