326 DISEASES or THE stomach and intestines. 
of similar irritations, and a course of treatment was at once 
decided upon—to divert the impression from the spinal 
nerves by active counter-irritation, and to allay the irritation 
in the nerves of intestines by sedatives and bland diet. The 
application of ammonia to the spine fulfilled the first indi¬ 
cation ; the second necessitated abstinence from bran, oats, 
or hay, and the allowance only of linseed tea. Small doses 
of aconite, every three or four hours, with fomentations and 
mustard poultices to the abdomen, completed the therapeutic 
treatment, which was rapidly successful; the patient was 
scrupulously fed upon a non-irritating diet for some days, 
enjoying perfect rest, and has since foaled safely. 
In every instance of an animal remaining down for some 
hours consecutively, both the bladder and rectum become in¬ 
conveniently distended and require mechanical relief; indeed, 
the practitioner’s first care is to remove all danger on this 
score before he proceeds to get the patient from his present 
posture. It is rather a curious fact that the animal struggling 
on the ground is less likely by far to be relieved by treat¬ 
ment than one who remains standing, or who occasionally 
rises. When even no disease of any kind is present, the 
mechanical inability to rise in consequence of the peculiarity of 
posture, or the size of the place in which the animal may be, 
is attended with symptoms of violent abdominal pain. From 
the alarm which the subject suffers, and the furious and 
useless efforts he makes to escape, the secretions become 
deranged, tympanitis is added to nervous excitement, and to 
these distension of bladder and rectum. A fatal result may 
be predicated, unless the position be promptly changed; this 
is not easy, and often requires the aid of pullies, necessitating 
some delay; immediate danger in the mean time is lessened 
by the catheter and enema syringe, with the addition of a 
sedative dose. 
The animal being placed upon his feet, commonly is 
unable to support himself in the standing posture without 
assistance, and makes uneasy efforts to lie down again ; this in¬ 
tention we have usually successfully opposed by smart strokes 
with a whip or stick, the attendants meanwhile applying fric¬ 
tion to the side on which the animal has lain, and which conse¬ 
quently is suffering a temporary paralysis. In a very short 
time the patient is capable of moving, and should be at once 
walked in hand for half-an-hour, by the end of which time 
he will most likely be quite restored; so many apparently 
serious cases are of this class, that it should always be con- 
sidered desirable to raise the patient suffering from abdo¬ 
minal pain from the ground ; if he has lain there for some 
