Special report on diseases of the horse / by Drs. Pearson [and others].

Date:
1903
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Special report on diseases of the horse / by Drs. Pearson [and others]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    29/690 (page 23)
    excepting on the back of the tongue, where the color is a yellowish gray. As abnormalities of this region, the chief are diffuse inflamma- tion, characterized by redness and catarrhal discharge; local inflamma- tion, as from eruptions, ulcers, or wounds; necrosis of the lower jaw- bone in front of the first back tooth; and swellings. Foreign bodies are sometimes found embedded in the mucous-membrane lining of the mouth or lodged between the teeth. The examination of the pharynx and of the esophagus is made chiefly by pressing upon the skin covering these organs in the region of the throat and along the left side of the neck in the jugular gutter. Some- times, when a more careful examination is necessary, an esophageal tube or probang is passed through the nose or mouth down the esoph- agus to the stomach. Vomiting is an act consisting in the expulsion of all or part of the contents of the stomach through the mouth or nose. This act is more difficult for the horse than for most of the other domestic animals, because the stomach of the horse is small and does not lie on the floor of the abdominal cavity, so that the abdominal walls in contracting do not bring pressure to bear upon it so directly and forcibly, as is the case in many other animals. Beside this, there is a loose fold of mucous membrane at the point where the esophagus enters the stom- ach, and this forms a sort of valve which does not interfere with the passage of food into the stomach, but does interfere with the exit of food through the esophageal opening. Still, vomiting is a symptom that is occasionally seen in the horse. It occurs when the stomach is very much distended with food or with gas. Distention stretches the mucous membrane and eradicates the valvular fold referred to, and also makes it possible for more pressure to be exerted upon the stom- ach through the contraction of the abdominal muscles. Since the dis- tention to permit vomiting must be extreme, it not infrequently hap- pens that it leads to rupture of the stomach walls. This has caused the impression in the minds of some that vomiting can not occur in the horse without rupture of the stomach, but this is incorrect, since many horses vomit and afterwards become entirely sound. After rupture of the stomach has occurred vomiting is impossible. In examination of the abdomen one should remember that its size depends largely upon the breed, sex, and conformation of the animal, and also upon the manner in which the animal has been fed and the use to which it has been put. A pendulous abdomen may be the result of an abdominal tumor or of an accumulation of fluid in the abdominal cavity; or, on the other hand, it may merely be an indication of preg- nancy, or of the fact that the horse has been fed for a long time on bulky and innutritions food. Pendulous abdomen occurring in a work horse kept on a concentrated diet is an abnormal condition. The abdomen may increase suddenly in volume from accumulation of gas