271 
ON IJLCEEATION OF THE INTESTINES. 
By A. OwLES^ M.B.C.V.S.j V.S., Staff at Aldershot. 
I DO not presume to think myself competent to solve the 
questions raised by Professor Varnell on the case of ruptured 
colon recorded by Mr. Billingtonin the Veterinarian ^oy April. 
Still, as I believe ulceration and perforation of the coats of 
the intestines to be a more frequent cause of death in the 
horse than many imagine, I am induced to offer the following 
remarks, and also a brief account of some cases of diseased 
and ulcerated intestines which came under my care in India, 
in which the symptoms were similar to the one now under 
consideration, and the immediate cause of death w^as also the 
same, viz., rupture or perforation of the colon. The symptoms 
of the cases alluded to were not peculiar to any recognised 
form of abdominal disease, although clearly indicating disease 
of that part of the organism, the leading ones being inter¬ 
mittent slow pains, irregular action of the bowels, with a fre¬ 
quent passing of slimy mucus; an accelerated, small, and 
irritable pulse, dejected countenance, capricious appetite, and 
loss of flesh, with a gradual increasing yellow tinting of the 
mucous membranes. These symptoms lasted some ten or 
twelve days, when acute pain, accompanied by a rapidly 
sinking pulse and strength, terminated the life of the animal 
in a few hours. The latter symptoms might enable one to 
hazard an opinion as to the probability of rupture being the 
immediate cause of death. Post-mortem examination showed, 
in addition to the escape of faecal matter from the intestines 
into the peritoneal sac, that the mucous coat had been first 
affected with subacute inflammation and ulceration, and, as a 
consequence, thinning of all the coats at certain parts, till 
perforation took place ; which lesion, wdth the escape of the 
faecal matter and fluid, quickly induced such an amount of 
inflammation and nervous disturbance as, acting on a debili¬ 
tated subject, killed the animal. 
Mr. Billington does not describe the state of the inner 
coats of the colon in the case recorded by him. I should, 
with due deference, incline to the opinion that the rupture 
resulted from some morbid change in the coats of the in¬ 
testine, and that it did not take place at the early stage of 
the disease. This opinion, if correct, wmuld explain away 
the second question. It does not seem easy to understand 
