INTESTINAL STRANGULATION. 
677 
formed a ring so close round a portion of the small intestines, as to 
cause a stoppage ; and this having, probably, existed for a consi- 
derable time, the coats of the intestines were very much thickened. 
I then brought up the cord sufficiently to divide it, and took out a 
portion ; after which I closed the opening with three stitches of tape, 
dressed the wound, and let the steer up again. 
11 A. M. — He is very uneasy, lying down, moaning, and grind- 
ing his teeth; the respiration hurried, and the pulse 70 and wiry. 
I endeavoured to bleed him, but could only get three pints of very 
thick dark-coloured blood. Give an ounce each of the tinct. of 
opium and the spirit of nitrous ether in gruel, and two ounces of 
laudanum in a clyster. Give gruel every four hours. 
6 P.M. — Some faeces have been discharged, relaxed, black, and 
with a considerable quantity of mucus. Treatment as before. 
Continue gruel and enemas. 
Aug. 2d . — Pulse 58. Nose dry — body warm and comfortable 
— bowels relaxed : drank three gallons of water, and ate a few 
mouthfuls of grass. Give compound spirit of nitre and gentian in 
gruel — dress the side, and continue enemas, & c. 
3 d . — Pulse 55. Horns hot, nose dry, body open — the fseces 
fetid, and coated with mucus. Give tr. opii, sp. nit. seth., and 
aniseseed in gruel. Dress side. 
4 th. — Still better — pulse 50 — nose moist, body comfortably 
warm, appetite improving — medicine the same as before : — continue 
gruel. 
5th. — Pulse 40. Drops of dew now stand on the muzzle — he 
eats better, and ruminates. Continue treatment. 
6th , 7 th, and 8th. — Improving — occasional laxative medicine, 
and constant dressing of the side. 
17^A. — Quite well, except that the wound in the side is not per- 
fectly healed. Turn him out with the other beasts. 
This species of internal hernia is far more prevalent in the north- 
ern districts of Great Britain and Scotland than in the south of 
England, with the exception, perhaps, of Herefordshire. It is 
the consequence of tearing asunder the cord or spermatic artery in 
the act of castrating the young ox. Some of the gelders effect, or 
used at least to effect, this by gnawing off the testicles with their 
teeth. The cord then violently retracts, passes into the abdomen, 
and there undergoes considerable inflammation and enlargement, 
and sometimes false membranes are formed, in which portions of 
the small intestines are occasionally entangled. 
There is an account of this in a German publication, by Her 
Anker, of the Canton of Berne, which may not be uninteresting to 
our readers. M. Anker states, that “ this species of internal hernia 
VOL. XII. 4 T 
