18 
ESSAY ON THE DESCRIPTIVE ANATOMY OF THE 
muscles in the act of expiration! May it not be a diseased 
action, or a loss of nervous power, producing an atrophied con¬ 
dition of the muscular structure enveloping the bronchi ? 
In many cases of broken wind which have been examined 
after death, and their cases authenticated, no trace of disease 
was apparent; but I would suggest that, when we come to 
reflect that any anormal change which may affect the respiration 
or circulation may produce the peculiar symptoms known as 
broken wind, and we look upon emphysema to be a generally 
found effect, and not the original cause of the complaint, we may 
be better able to reconcile conflicting opinions. 
[To be continued.] 
PRIZE ESSAY ON THE DESCRIPTIVE ANATOMY OF 
THE ABDOMINAL VISCERA OF THE HORSE. 
By Mr. John Gamgee. 
[Read before the Members of the Veterinary Medical Association.] 
[Continued from page 683.] 
Large Intestine. —\ 
The large intestine constitutes the terminating portion of the 
alimentary canal, being remarkably more developed in solipedes 
than in any other of our domestic quadrupeds. It occupies the 
greater part of the abdomen, and most of it is loose, whilst its 
shape and other peculiarities vary considerably at different 
points. 
It is divided into three parts—caecum, colon, and rectum— 
the precise extent of each being defined by special anatomical 
characters. 
The position of the large intestine being constant, it is neces¬ 
sary, for sake of precision, to speak of the whole as to the 
course it takes in forming the three divisions, extending thus 
between the small intestine and anus. 
The caecum, or blind pouch, is the first gut, which protrudes 
in the middle on cutting through the abdominal walls at the 
linea alba. Its bend or blind extremity is projecting into the 
left hypochondriac region; its body crosses obliquely the floor 
of the abdomen, to reach the right iliac region, where it sud¬ 
denly bends at an acute angle, being rather constricted, and 
forms ihe colon. At this part the latter receives the ileum, 
and extends up the right side of the abdomen to the diaphragm. 
