318 
INTESTINAL TYMPANITIS. 
full and soft. The mare was excessively weak : she staggered, 
and frequently sunk en the front of the hind pasterns. Another 
dose of medicine, more potent than the first, was given ; dry 
heat and clothing were applied to the surface of the body ; and 
the apartment was carefully closed. I was absent from twelve 
o’clock till four; and the mare upon my return was in much the 
same state as I had left her : she had rolled about a good deal, 
had been rather less violent, but there had been no complete re- 
mission of pain, and nothing had passed from the anus. A third 
dose of medicine was given. It produced a short interval of 
comparative qu : etness. I went in search of a trochar, and se- 
lected one of that size which is usually employed by the medical 
practitioner in operating on hydrocele. 
At seven o’clock the mare had been nearly half an hour in 
extreme agony. Had she not at this time been suddenly re- 
lieved, she would have been dead in another hour. Having de- 
termined to perforate the intestine, I waited a few minutes, ex- 
pecting a momentary remission from her struggling ; but she 
continued to be very violent, and it was necessary to have her 
held down by force while she lay on the left side. I thrust 
the trochar into the middle of the right flank : a large quan- 
tity of air escaped, and the intestine was soon emptied. I 
cleared the canula by a probe ; but it was evident that no 
more air could be extracted from this quarter. Although a great 
quantity escaped, yet the abdomen did not appear to diminish in 
size. 1 thought it less tense, but the relaxation was by no means 
very apparent. I immediately made another perforation, lower 
down, into the caecum, or rather to the right of the caecum; it 
might be the colon, for in these cases the bowels never occupy 
their ordinary relative position. I was guided in my choice of 
a place by percussion. (See the article Abdomen, Exploration 
of, in the Cyclopaedia of Practical Medicine). Upon withdraw- 
ing the perforator, the air rushed through the canula with great 
rapidity and noise. The mare hastened its expulsion by fre- 
quently straining, as if she were sensible that she could then 
empty the bowels. The canula, as the stream of air diminished 
in force, was several times plugged up by stercoraceous matter, 
which was removed by a probe : at last a few drops of fluid 
came ; the belly appeared to be sunk to nearly its natural vo- 
lume, and it was quite flaccid. The canula was removed as 
soon as it was evident that the air was all evacuated. 
After the operation, the mare lay for nearly three hours with- 
out the least struggle ; she seemed to enjoy entire exemption 
from pain. I sat up with her till six o’clock next morning, 
having resolved to puncture again, should it become necessary. 
