OBSTINATE CONSTIPATION IN A MARE. 
491 
’’irst* who imported a quantity of what were called Royal Mares 
md Stallions from Barbary. And it is from the progeny of those 
Vfrican barbs (possessing a slight mixture of native blood), puri- 
ied by breeding in and in with the Arabian horse, that we are in- 
lebted for the present English thorough-bred horse, that not only 
ies with, but excels all the horses of the world both in beauty and 
qualities: it may be said to possess the beauty, fleetness, and 
ipirit of an Arabian, and the vigour of the native breed, combined 
vith the proud and elevated figure of the African barb. 
[To be continued.] 
OBSTINATE CONSTIPATION IN A MARE. 
By Mr. F. King, Sen., Stanmore . 
4 MARE belonging to a neighbour, a farmer, was sent to me, 
3upposed to be griped. The pain was not intense,—she was lying 
down and getting up again, and looking round, and that only at 
intervals. She was bled freely, and an aperient administered ; injec¬ 
tions were employed until they were returned without any faecal 
matter; tobacco fumes were thrown up ; bleedings repeated, aloes 
and castor oil in considerable quantities given, and plenty of broth 
and mucilaginous drink poured down: still no relief—nothing 
passed; no inflation of the abdomen; and occasionally a rum¬ 
bling of the intestines could be noticed: the mare at intervals 
standing up, apparently free from pain, and eating now and then 
a little hay and grass, and taking a little w r ater. This kept hope 
alive. This order of symptoms, however, continued with very 
little variation for thirteen days. The abdomen now becoming 
hard and tense, and the case, as I thought, quite hopeless, I 
determined on the following experiment. I secured her in the erect 
position, and made an incision in the near flank, high up, large 
enough to introduce my arm. I soon felt a portion of the small 
intestines stuffed full, and quite hard, for, as nearly as I could cal¬ 
culate, about twelve or fourteen inches : the anterior portion of the 
gut was evidently full of fluid matter. I began by grasping the 
intestine, and, by gently pressing it, I found I could mix its con¬ 
tents with the fluid contained in the anterior portion of the gut, 
which, by degrees, I completely effected. The opening was closed 
and dressed, and the distress not increased by the operation : very 
soon copious and frequent stools passed ; but she died in about 
six hours after the operation. The post mortem examination 
