REPORTS OF CASES. 
881 
REPORTS OF CASES. 
“ Careful observation makes a skillful practitioner . but his skill dies with him. Byre- 
cording his observations , he adds to the knowledge of his profession, and assists by his facts 
in building up the solid edifice of pathological science. ’ ’ 
CASES OCCURRING IN AN ILLINOIS PRACTICE.* 
By Hugh Thomson, V. S., Shabbona, Ill. 
Being requested by our worthy President to prepare a pa¬ 
per or report of cases, I choose for my subjects the following 
three interesting cases : 
Volvulus Relieved by Rolling. 
Bay mare, owned by a farmer south of Waterman, about 
1400 pounds. Questioning him closely in regard to the case, I 
found she had gotten loose at night, entered the corn crib, and 
was found in the morning sick with colic. She was given the 
regular farm remedies (saleratus and vinegar, spirits of nitre 
and tincture of opium) and turned into the yard, where she 
rolled and tumbled all day. In the evening he called on me. 
Being busy at the time, I sent out a dose of barium chloride, 
with simple syrup and water, to be followed in half an hour 
with cannabis indica and aconite. I told him I would get 
there as soon as I could, which I did in about three hours. On 
questioning him closely I got the history as written ; symp¬ 
toms as I found them, pulse 96, temperature 103°, respirations 
very distressed. She would get against the side of the stall 
and slide down, striking the floor hard ; would gather her limbs 
under her, with the front feet resting on the floor, knees raised, 
hold her head between her knees a few minutes, then in a lit¬ 
tle while sit on her haunches, with her head raised high in the 
air and stay this way a few minutes ; then arise, slide down the 
side of the stall, and so on. I found out that the barium had 
not acted except to neutralize the gases that had been present, 
as the owner said there had been no passage of faeces or flatus. 
I gave an injection of glycerine, which passed out in a couple 
of minutes, being slightly colored ; gave more cannabis indica 
and aconite ; then followed with an injection of soap and warm 
water. Concluding that I had a case of misplaced bowel, I 
gave my prognosis, telling him there was only one chance, and 
that was to induce the mare to roll, and it might make a 
change. So we chose a nice place by a haystack ; gave an 
* Read before the Illinois State Veterinary Medical Association, Nov. 15 , 1899 . 
