A CASE OF CHRONIC ABSCESS. 151 
ting weaker, she was removed to my stables, that she might 
be under my immediate inspection. 
Her pulse varied from 36 to 48, according as she experienced 
pain in the abdomen. As she became weaker, these pains be¬ 
came stronger, and of longer continuance. I found no difficulty 
in relieving the spasms for the time, but they occurred regularly 
twice a-day. Gentle exercise had been usually given, but this 
was obliged to be discontinued—the least exertion occasioning 
excessive perspiration and fatigue. She had now been in my 
infirmary about a week, and had gradually become worse ; her 
mouth became covered with a viscid mucus, and for the first 
time evinced pain on pressure being applied to the abdomen. 
Her pulse, when free from pain, seldom exceeded 38, and even 
when suffering extreme pain it was not more than 50. She died, 
after being under my care, in about ten days. A singular circum¬ 
stance occurred about an hour before her death ; she vomited 
up the whole of the contents of her stomach, and with as little 
difficulty as a human being vomits after taking an emetic. 
Sectio Cadaveris .—On laying open the abdomen, and expos¬ 
ing the viscera, I discovered a membranaceous sac, of consider¬ 
able size, strength, and firmness, composed of several lamellm, 
very closely compacted, adhering to and surrounded by the 
small intestines. This cyst, after being dissected from the in¬ 
testines, weighed 23 pounds. On cutting it open, from 9 to 10 
pints of muco-purulent matter escaped, of a yellowish grey colour. 
The internal lining of the cyst was evidently a mucous mem¬ 
brane ; and from the history of the disease, I have not a doubt 
that it must have existed from the period when the animal first 
became affected with those griping or colicky pains that I have 
described—nearly two years. 
When they first made their appearance, a dose of antispas- 
modic medicine, composed chiefly of the tincture of opium and 
spirit of turpentine, afforded almost instant relief. This was 
generally sufficient for the first seven or eight months, but af¬ 
terwards it was found necessary to add a slight dose of cathartic 
medicine, and occasionally a little blood was taken from the 
animal. By these means the mare became free from pain for 
six or eight weeks. The internal lining of the cyst being a se¬ 
creting membrane, when the secretion went on more briskly 
than the absorption, the abscess increased in size; and when 
the absorption was more active, it diminished. 
It was evidently the pressure of this immense abscess on the 
small intestines that occasioned the spasms. When the secre¬ 
tion and absorption were equal, the abscess remained stationary. 
