« , x '* 
LIVERPOOL VETERINARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION. 63 
six or seven at once, at intervals of four or five months. Still he enjoys 
excellent health, and is in good condition, and has never been known to 
have an attack of colic. His (Mr. Taylor’s) attention being'only called 
to him by the attendant with the quaint remark that his horse had com¬ 
menced the marble trade again. The character of the food and the 
gastric habits of the animal was believed to have considerable influence 
in the formation of calculi. 3. Repeated doses of purgative medicine 
in all cases where the bowels did not respond to an ordinary dose was 
generally condemned, nerve stimulants in such cases being generally 
recommended. Dr. Greenicay suggested the administration of metallic 
mercury in cases of obstinate obstruction, as is done in the human 
subject, but several members considered that the horizontal position of 
the bowels in our patients, combined with the anatomical arrangement 
of the ilio-caecal valve, militated against its success. 4. In all cases of 
abdominal affections in the horse, accompanied with tympanitis, tapping 
was generally recommended as being both safe and beneficial. The 
operation should be performed in the same region as you tap for hoven 
in cattle. 5. As to the best course to be adopted in cases where the 
presence of calculi had been diagnosed, it was considered by some that 
purgative medicines, either aloes or oil, did more harm than good. 
Mr. Jas. Storrar then communicated the following notes of a case of 
“ Ruptured abdominal muscles.” On the 17th October last I was called 
to see a very valuable brood mare of the heavy shires breed seven years 
old, and the dam of three foals. She had not been in harness for several 
years, having been laid aside from work for breeding purposes and 
exhibition. She had been kept up to the mark (to use showing phrase¬ 
ology) till the shows were over, when it was considered prudent to allow 
her to get a little down in her bulk, her last foal being still unweaned. 
She was grazing in a very rich pasture during the day, and at night was 
taken up to a large comfortable loose box, where she had a small portion 
of grass, a feed of bruised oats boiled, and bran. She again had a 
similar feed in the morning before being turned out to pasture. She 
was an uncommonly good tempered animal, never running or exerting 
herself, but most industrious as a grazier, a magnificent animal, weighing 
nearly 18 cwt., lengthy, but beginning to get a little low in her back, 
presumably from having had several foals. Such was the animal which 
I was called in to see. 
The groom’s statement was that on the previous evening, when calling 
her to come into her box, he thought she went a little stiff on the off- 
hind leg. She ate her mash with relish, and having left her for a short 
time he went back and found her lying down comfortably. Before 
going to bed he again looked in at her, and found her up and eating her 
grass. These circumstances relieved his mind so far that he did not 
consider it necessary to say anything to his master that night. 
On the following morning, still thinking her somewhat stiff on the off- 
hind leg, he informed lais master, who went into the field, but was unable 
to satisfy himself that anything was wrong. He, however, said to the 
groom, “ You know the mare’s general appearance better than I do, and 
since you do not think her right, go for Mr. Storrar.” 
Upon my arrival the groom pointed out a swelling in the right flank, 
very slight, soft, and evidently oedematous; there was also a little 
similar swelling behind the elbow. 
The mare was still very fat, but the groom said that she had sunk very 
much in her appearance, more than she ought to have clone considering 
what she was eating. The mare seemed low in vital force, her pulse soft 
and languid. She kept up her appetite as usual. 
