OF THE COLON IN A HORSE* 
239 
other there was a rupture of the diaphragm in its aponeurotic 
expansion. I mean the animal stamping’ and beating the ground 
with his fore-feet. 
Post-mortem examination .—It was opened within an hour after 
death, and the following lesions were perceptible :— 
The cranial cavity. —Nothing particular, excepting a slight 
redness of the membranes on the side on which the animal had 
lain. 
The thoracic cavity. —The left lung contained several tuber¬ 
cles, and a slight suppurative ulcer existed at the point of the 
little lobe; the left lung was much congested, from the animal 
having lain on that side. 
The abdominal cavity. —About two pints of bloody serosity 
were found in this cavity. A large extent of the exterior surface 
of the colon, at the part where this intestine takes a pyramidical 
form and describes the gastric curvature, was of a violet colour, 
and the floating part of this viscus had twisted round itself, so as 
to form a strangulation, two inches and three quarters from the 
place where the cellated structure commences, in which the 
dung-balls are formed. 
This obstacle stopped the passage of the contents of the in¬ 
testine, and prevented them from reaching the rectum. The 
mesentery was turned back on itself at this place, in the same 
manner as the colon, without being torn. On following the 
course of this intestine on the side of the ccecum, it was found to 
be ruptured at its gastric curvature, near the place where it 
suddenly decreases in size. This rupture, which was about five 
inches and a half long, was situated between the fleshy bands of 
this intestine, and followed their direction longitudinally ; its 
edges were slightly thickened and rounded. More than two pounds 
of alimentary matter, much diluted and reddened by the blood 
which had escaped from this opening, was found on the left side 
of the stomach. The internal membrane of this part of the 
intestine, from the entangled portion to the rupture, was much 
thickened, and of a bluish colour. The vascular network and 
thelaminous tissue which unites the villous and muscular coats, 
appeared to be thickened, and contained a great quantity of 
thick viscid black blood, which gave the internal surface of the 
intestine a gangrenous appearance. The alimentary substances 
which it contained were mixed with a great deal of bloody fluid. 
The stomach was healthy, and the food contained in it well di¬ 
gested. Nothing remarkable was found in any of the other 
intestines. 
Reflections. —Did the strangulation of the intestine, which in 
all probability preceded the rupture, exist before the apparent 
commencement of the illness; that is to say, before the 8th of 
