214 
CORRESPONDENCE. 
of oats, of which he quickly disposed, and then began a vigorous 
assault on his mate by kicking, which was so effective as to break 
from the stall a wedge-shaped piece of plank which fell against 
the animal, frightening him. In his endeavor to rid himself of 
the nuisance, he caused the sharp point of the broken plank to 
penetrate the umbilical region of the abdominal parietes a little 
to the left of the median line, passing upward and forward to a 
distance of thirty-eight or nine inches and about thirteen inches 
wide, making a lacerated wound sufficiently large to admit the 
passage of a man’s hand quite easily. The groom not being able 
to render the animal any assistance alone, ran out for help; on 
returning found him standing perfectly quiet, the piece of plank 
having fallen out, followed by the whole mass of small intestines, 
nearly to the floor. I was immediately called in, and on seeing 
the case ordered the animal to be relieved of his sufferings, which 
were being increased by the animal constantly trampling on the 
intestines, every step bringing down more and more of the abdom¬ 
inal viscera. 
On post mortem examination, the small colon was found to be 
completely severed, and its mesenteric attachment, together with 
that of the small intestines, entirely destroyed; the whole mass 
protruding through the wound made through the abdominal walls. 
The stomach was divided more or less completely, and its contents 
discharged into the abdominal cavity and from the wound; the 
liver was somewhat injured, and in the diaphragm a more or less 
circular lacerated wound about six inches in diameter. On ex¬ 
amining the thoracic cavity, considerable damage was found to 
have been done to the lung tissue on the left side; the thoracic 
pleura and internal muscles suffered considerably. I was at first 
surprised at the very slight amount of hemorrhage which had 
taken place, but afterwards considered the nature of the wound 
to be sufficient explanation for the case. Hoping not to trespass 
on your valuable time and space, 
I am, yours respectfully, 
W. L. Zuill. 
1513 Race St., Phila., 
July 17th, 1880. 
