INTROSUSCEPTION IN THE HORSE. 
275 
out almost any trouble soon became matured, was opened, and dis¬ 
charged a healthy pus; and the case went on most satisfactorily 
till the 16th of May, when I was sent for to see the horse. I 
found him stiff, shifting, and very uneasy upon his legs; but as 
he was feeding as usual, I supposed it might be from confinement, 
the weather not having permitted him to be walked out for sundry 
days. I advised his being exercised gently for a short time, which 
was done, and when he returned to his stable he looked much 
better, and fed well. I called to see him again in the evening 
about eight o’clock; he was then lying down, but started up and 
began to eat hay. On closer examination, I found him again stiff 
in his legs, and on applying my hand to the inside of his thighs, I 
found the muscles hard and cramped. The pulse and breathing at 
this time were not in the least affected. After ordering his thighs 
and legs to be well rubbed, I gave him an antispasmodic drench; 
after which he appeared much better, and began to eat a little bran 
mash which was before him. I left him for the night, trusting to 
find him all right in the morning. In this, however, I was disap¬ 
pointed ; for the person who took charge of him called me very 
early to see him, saying he had been kicking and rolling about the 
greatest part of the night. I saw him immediately, and found him 
exactly as had been described by the servant. On getting him 
upon his feet, his pulse and other symptoms at once satisfied me 
the horse was labouring under a well-marked case of spasmodic 
colic. I had him removed from his stable, which was hot and 
confined, to my own premises, which were close at hand, where I 
turned him into a well-ventilated loose box, and commenced the 
usual treatment for spasmodic colic, by giving him tincture of opium 
and spirit of nitric aether; bled, blistered his chest and belly, and 
sides as far back as the extremities of the false ribs (which acted 
well), and threw up clysters, without any mitigation of the ani¬ 
mal’s sufferings. I repeated the drenches and clysters, but without 
the least benefit being produced; for his ears and extremities 
were getting very cold, the pulse sinking fast, and the whole 
symptoms indicative of spasmodic colic had now disappeared, and 
he stood quiet, though it was evident he was becoming weaker 
and feebler upon his legs; his whole countenance manifested the 
most intense suffering and distress, which shewed that all my 
efforts to save him had been of no avail, for he was now fast in 
the grasp of the last enemy. About two o’clock next morning he 
dropped, and died with a violent convulsive struggle, thirty hours 
after the first appearance of the foregoing symptoms. In the course 
of the day I made a post-mortem examination in the presence of 
the owner and sundry of his friends, two of whom were medical 
gentlemen of the first standing in their profession. 
The whole secret and mystery of the case was now revealed, by 
