64 LIVERPOOL VETERINARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION, 
There was no swelling of the legs as we usually find in cases of poor 
blood, yet these swellings were cedematous, and the case seemed a likely 
one to recover by a change of diet, and a little alterative medicine. I 
therefore gave her a six-drachm purging ball, which acted very mode¬ 
rately, while she continued to eat her mashes with relish. 
I ordered the green grass to be stopped, good old hay to be substituted, 
the bruised oats and bran to be given dry morning and evening, and 
her usual walk at pasture to be allowed her during the day. 
After the medicine had acted she seemed better on the right side, but 
on the 19th, when I again saw her, there was a very considerable cede- 
matous swelling on the lefc side of' the flank ; this to me was more 
puzzling than ever. I asked if there was any cow or other animal in the 
field that could have interfered with her, as this looked more like an 
injury to the parts than anything else I could think of, but I was told 
that there was no animal in the field that could have injured her. 
I gave her diuretic medicine, and expected a favorable result from this 
and the change of diet, but the swelling continued to increase, and I 
requested that some other professional man should see her. 
Upon the arrival of my professional friend we agreed to puncture the 
swelling, so as to allow of an escape of serum. Upon my doing so, and 
introducing my finger to break up the cellular tissue, there followed an 
alarming flow of serum and red corpuscles, which I hastened to stop. 
Of course there was a certain amount of clot formed, owing to the blood 
from the skin, but the great bulk of the fluid was watery. Suffice it to 
say that, nothwithstanding every attention, the animal died on the 
morning of Saturday the 25th. 
The post-mortem showed that the swelling in the flanks had arisen 
from a rupture of the transverse abdominal muscles, the laceration pro¬ 
ceeded to extend, no doubt every time she raised herself from the bed, 
which she did very frequently immediately before death. On the left 
side the rents were right through the muscles to the skin, and in several 
places the serous effusion in the abdominal cavity was great, while here 
and there a black clot floated in it. 
The special interest attached to this case is the previous history of the 
animals 5 life and treatment, and the very unusual occurrence of such a 
case. I have on two previous occasions seen mares give way at the 
attachment of the rectus abdominis muscle to the pelvis, thereby 
allowing the abdomen to descend very low, and giving the animal a very 
unseemly appearance, but both these cases occurred very near to the time 
of the mare’s foaling. The mares foaled, reared their foals, and did well. 
In the present case the mare was in foal, but the foetus was small, and 
could not be a factor in the case. 
The pathological questions which I have asked myself, and which I 
now suggest to you for your opinion, are these : 
Had the repeated fattenings to which the mare had been subjected 
for years produced any tendency to fatty degeneration of the muscles 
of any part of the body ? 
The heart was fatty, but weighed about eight pounds, quite as heavy 
as I would have expected the heart of an animal out of condition to 
have been. 
Had the very limited exercise which the mare had been subject to 
a tendency to generate fat at the expense of the muscular tissue? 
Had the bulky, moist, non-nutritious grass, of which she partook so 
largely, a tendency to distend her abdominal organs, and to relax the 
system generally, so that the animal may be said literally to have fallen 
to pieces ? 
