686 ABDOMINAL TUMOUR AND RUPTURE OF THE COLON. 
circumstances which then existed, the most experienced 
member of our profession would scarcely have ventured to 
have given a more definite opinion. The human surgeon 
has great advantage over us in diagnosing such cases. He 
can with great facility place his patient in a position the 
most convenient for the purpose of manipulating the abdo¬ 
minal walls, and of judging of any deviation from their 
natural form when in such a position. If, however, we do 
accomplish this at all, it is always far from being satisfactory. 
In the first place, the uncontrollable nature of our patient, 
and secondly, the usually thick parietes of this cavity, render 
a delicate manipulation impossible. Still, if the symptoms 
are such as to suggest the existence of an abdominal tumour, 
these means may be resorted to so as to assist us in diagnosing 
the case; and should it happen that the walls of the cavity 
are moderately thin, which they will be if the animal is 
much emaciated and the tumour large, a tolerably correct 
opinion may be formed. Percussion will also materially 
assist us; but, as we lose the aid of the organs of vision, we 
can only judge of the character of these growths by learning 
the history of the case, and even this may shed a doubtful 
light upon it. I am not attempting a dissertation on 
abdominal tumours, or the mode of diagnosing their pre¬ 
sence and nature; nevertheless, I venture to make this re¬ 
mark—based on my own experience—that there are very 
few instances in which their positive existence can be de¬ 
termined with that certainty which would warrant the prac¬ 
titioner in advising that the horse be destroyed. He will 
doubtlessly take a far safer course by continuing to treat the 
case until the general symptoms are such that he is persuaded 
it is a hopeless one. Such is the course which Mr. Hardy 
seems to have adopted in this instance, and to my mind it 
was a very proper one. 
I have before stated that the tumour was globular in form. 
Its weight is given by Mr. Hardy, and its bulk, therefore, can 
be readily imagined, particularly by those who are familiar 
with morbid growths of this description. In colour it was of 
a grayish-pink, mottled, here and there, by ecchymosed spots; 
and, when pressed upon, it was found to be moderately firm 
in consistence. In order to examine its interior I made a 
section through it in two different directions, and upon looking 
to the cut surfaces I found them to vary both in colour and 
density. The greater part of each exposed surface was of a 
pinkish-straw colour, darkened here and there by effused 
blood, or engorged blood-vessels. Some places near to the 
outer margin of each section were much lighter in colour. 
