464 
W. L. WILLIAMS. 
in one to a few hours. Some writers, among them Finlay 
Dun, state that chloral may be safely administered hypoder¬ 
mically, but some three exceedingly unfortunate attempts to 
use the drug in this way, in which extensive gangrene of 
the subcutaneous connective tissues ensued in each case, dis¬ 
abling the patient for several weeks, I became convinced that 
the drug was not usable in this manner. Again I have tried 
administering the drug in the dry form, wrapped in paper, 
but the paper may break in the mouth or fauces and cause 
painful excoriations, or may lodge in the oesophagus and cause 
inflammation of that organ, producing symptoms of choking. 
In one case I was called fifty miles in consultation, in a sup¬ 
posed case of choking, to find on my arrival that the oesoph¬ 
agus had been burned by the lodgment of a chloral pill. It 
is, therefore, best to give chloral in small, soft, tenacious pills, 
which will not readily break, cannot lodge in the oesophagus, 
and once in the stomach will quickly melt away. 
An important question confronting the veterinarian is the 
action to be taken regarding the presence in the intestinal 
canal of the superabundance of food. 
Generally purgatives are resorted to as the rational treat¬ 
ment indicated. But a careful study of the conditions pre¬ 
sented and observation with the various methods of treat¬ 
ment demonstrate this to be erroneous. 
The ordinary purgatives act too slowly in the horse so 
that ere purgation ensues the crisis has been safely passed, 
and if let alone the bowels will move gently, or undergo 
slight diarrhoea. 
In these cases of over-feeding, with flatulence, the bowels 
have been distended, more or less paralyzed and usually 
irritated or inflamed. A full dose of aloes under these condi¬ 
tions means that it cannot act until the colic ceases, or rather 
until the time when naturally the colic should cease, when in 
the weakened state of the bowels the colicky pains are re¬ 
newed by the drastic action of the aloes, and when the bowels 
finally respond, they do so violently, not infrequently ending 
in the death of the animal, quite commonly delaying the re¬ 
turn of the horse to his accustomed duties for several days.. 
