ON ENTERITIS. 151 
Mr. Spooner observed, existing between the voluntary and in¬ 
voluntary muscles. 
Cold was also mentioned as a cause. Who can doubt it? 
either externally or internally applied. Most of us know from our 
own experience, after exposure of ourselves generally to cold, or 
getting the feet wet, how soon, in many cases, the bowels become 
affected ; and so I have no doubt, in many instances, the horse 
suffers from the same cause. I had a most obstinate case last 
year in a horse belonging to a clergyman in this town, that went 
a distance of fourteen miles to a sale. He was put into a cold 
shed, and remained there for three or four hours. On starting 
for home, it was found that the horse had been pawing : be came 
home with difficulty, and lay down as soon as he got in the 
stable, and was very ill all night. I bled him several times, and 
gave opium, and he got well; but he had no opening medicine 
until a day or two afterwards. 
As to the drinking of cold water, I know many instances in 
which enteritis was produced thereby ; I will just allude to 
a few :—One was that of a young healthy grey mare, the property 
of a surgeon in this town, that had been under my hands for 
ophthalmia. I ordered her not to have cold water for some time, 
having had some aperient medicine a few days before; but the 
gentleman persisted one morning in her having it, and the con¬ 
sequence was, that in a short time afterwards violent symptoms 
of spasm came on, and which ended in excessive peritoneal in¬ 
flammation of the whole of the small intestines. The muscular 
coat was scarcely at all affected. Other cases I have known 
produced by turning horses out at night to drink their fill at a 
pit, let them have been working ever so hard. The consequence 
has been, that before morning they (the owners) have been dis¬ 
turbed by a noise in the stable; and in some instances the horses 
have actually broken out of the stable, and been found rolling 
about in the yard. In several cases, strangulation was produced 
from this cause. From the conjoint effects of exposure to cold 
and over-exertion, the body, in many instances, may be so debi¬ 
litated as to be in a manner predisposed to the disease. 
A few years ago, when our cavalry were during the summer 
at Ellesmere, a great number of horses were suddenly taken ill 
with shivering and restlessness, in consequence of having had 
cold water given them to drink too soon after coming home from 
duty. To some a large dose of opium was administered : others 
were trotted about and got well; but many were obliged to be 
bled, and attended to for some time afterwards. 
There was a very just observation made by my namesake, 
** that sometimes it has occurred when the horse has been at 
