282 
W. F. DERR. 
USE OF THE TROCAR ANI) CANULA IN TYM¬ 
PANITIS OF THE HORSE, 
By W. F. Derr, Y.S., (Wooster, Ohio). 
In the last fifteen months I have used the trocar a areat dea 
o 
and with good success, and thinking it might be of some benefit 
to some of the readers of the Veterinary Review, I will report 
a few cases. 
On the 10th of May, 1880, I was called to see a grey horse 
twelve years old, the property of S. S. Shillings, proprietor of the 
Wooster Cab Line. The animal had been suffering for about an 
hour by the time I arrived at the stable. The animal was down 
and in terrible agony, abdomen distended with gas to its utmost 
capacity ; respiration accelerated and very laborious ; pulse feeble 
and indistinct ; body cold and clammy, and ears and legs in a 
similar condition. Eructations of gas from the stomach by the 
way of the mouth, indicated that the stomach as well as the 
intestines were occupied with gases. 
I got the animal on his feet, and administered a drench of tur¬ 
pentine 1 oz., with am. carb. 2 drs., in a pint of linseed oil; gave an 
injection of warm water, but did not succeed in getting him to expel 
any foeces or gases, as he expelled the injection as soon as we ad¬ 
ministered it, on account of the great distention of gasses in the 
intestines. In about fifteen minutes I tried to administer another 
drench, but he threw it back by the way of the nostrils. 
I now made up my mind to try the effect of the trocar and 
canula. I introduced the instrument about an equal distance from 
the anterior spine of the ilium and transverse process of the lumber 
vertebra and ribs on the right side. On withdrawing the trocar 
the gas escaped freely, giving instant relief. Thinking I now 
had the case under control, I gave a small dose of aloes, as I had 
given him oil before, combined with a carminative to rouse up the 
digestive organs ; the horse appearing easy, I left for about an 
hour, to attend to another patient, but on my return found the 
animal in a worse condition than before; the owner had inserted 
a handful of salt in the rectum, thinking it might expel the gases 
