TYMPANITES, "BLOATING."--This disorder is usually caused by animals feeding on green feeds, such as clover, alfalfa and green corn, that ferment readily. Stormy, rainy weather seems to favor bloating. The consumption of spoiled feeds such as potatoes and beets may cause it. The drinking of a large quantity of water, especially if cold, chills the wall of the rumen and interferes with its movement. Frozen feeds may act in the same way. Sudden changes in the feed, inflammation of the rumen, and a weak peristaltic movement of the paunch resulting from disease or insufficient nourishment are frequent causes. It may occur in chronic disease. In tuberculosis, bloating sometimes occurs. _The symptoms_ are as follows: The paunch or rumen occupies the left side of the abdominal cavity, hence the distention of the abdominal wall by the collecting of gas in the rumen occurs principally on that side. The gas forms quickly and the distended wall is highly elastic and resonant. The animal stops eating and ruminating, the back may be arched and the ears droop. In the more severe cases the wall of the abdomen is distended on both sides, the respirations are quickened and labored, the pulse small and quick, the eyes are prominent and the mucous membrane congested. Death results from asphyxia brought on by the distended paunch pushing forward and interfering with the movement of the lungs and the absorption of the poisonous gases. _The treatment_ is both preventive and medicinal. This form of acute indigestion can be largely prevented by practising the following preventive measures: All changes in the feed should be made gradually, especially if the ration fed is heavy, or the new ration consists largely of green, succulent feed. Cattle pasturing on clover should be kept under close observation. It is not advisable to pasture cattle on rank growths of clover that are wet with dew or a light rain. Bloating can be quickly relieved by puncturing the wall of the paunch with the trocar and cannula. The operation is quite simple and is not followed by bad results. The instrument is plunged through the walls of the abdomen and rumen in the most prominent portion of the flank, midway between the border of the last rib and the point of the haunch (Fig. 13). The trocar is then withdrawn from the cannula. After the gas has escaped through the cannula, the trocar is replaced and the instrument withdrawn. After using the trocar and cannula, the instrument should be cleaned by placing it in boiling hot water. It is advisable to wash the skin at the seat of the operation with a disinfectant before operating. In chronic tympanitis, it is sometimes advisable to leave the cannula in position by tying a tape to the flange, passing it around the body and tying.