442 
FUNCTION IN TYMPANITIS. 
The mare upon which I first operated was doing well, to all ap- 
pearance, for ten or fourteen days after I wrote her history. Sub- 
sequently she ceased to improve, and the groom, after awhile, 
complained that she would not suffer pressure on the right flank 
when he was dressing her. When I examined it, the tenderness 
was very apparent; but there was neither heat nor swelling. A 
stimulating liniment was rubbed in, and some physic was given. 
Another veterinarian recommended and applied a blister. The 
treatment produced no amendment. The mare remained thin, weak, 
and dull, and the tenderness neither increased nor diminished. 
At last the mare was sold for eight pounds to a person who kept her 
for awhile, and resold her for ten. I then lost sight of her. I have 
since been told that she was sold a third time for thirty pounds. 
The last time I heard of her it was said that she had died; but of 
what my informant could not tell. 
When I last saw the mare I did not think she would ever be- 
come useful. There was some mischief going on in the right 
flank ; but whether it had been produced by the trochar, or by 
gaseous distention, must be left to conjecture. From the beginning 
of her illness the mare would not lie on her right side ; a fact which 
I mentioned in recording the case. 
I have since tried the operation on three other horses, and shall 
briefly state the results. 
Case II. 
Nov. 14, 1836. — -A cart-horse was fed last night about six 
o’clock, and was shut up while feeding. At four in the morning 
the carter found him rolling about in great pain, covered with 
sweat, and very much swelled. He had emptied his manger. 
Two colic draughts were given; he was bled and clystered, but 
continued to get worse; and I saw him at half past six. By that 
time he was dying of enteritis. As an experiment, I punctured 
the belly. Knowing I should have an opportunity of examination 
after death, I was desirous of learning whether the perforations 
of the trochar would close immediately or remain open. I had no 
doubt but I should evacuate a large quantity of gas, and was sur- 
prised, upon withdrawing the perforator, to find it followed by very 
little gas; so little that its removal could have afforded no relief, 
had relief been contemplated. I made six other punctures in dif- 
ferent places, with no better success. From only one was there 
any stream of gas; from other two, just enough to shew that the 
bowel was punctured; from one a few drops of bloody water; and 
from the others nothing escaped. The canula was probed, but it 
was quite clear. 
Upon dissection, an hour after punction, I found the small intes- 
