_Course_. In the advanced stages the animal may sink to the ground oppressed by the shock, poisoned by the carbon dioxide which can no longer be exhaled through the lungs, and by hydrogen sulphide and other toxic products of intestinal fermentation. Death may follow two hours after a hearty meal and is rarely long delayed in fatal cases. Improvement may be recognized by the termination of the paresis, the lessening of the abdominal tension, the return of the rumbling in the abdomen, the passage of fæces and flatus, and of urine and by general relief. _Lesions_. In case of death the overdistension of the intestines and abdomen is the most marked lesion, the composition of the gas varying with the nature of the ingesta and the duration of the illness. Carburetted hydrogen compounds abound as a rule in the early stages, while carbon dioxide predominates later. Pinner found 49 per cent. of carburetted hydrogen, 8 per cent. of carbon dioxide, and 42 per cent. of nitrogen. The contents of the large intestines are usually in considerable amount and in an undigested condition. The walls of the distended bowels are greatly attenuated and may show congestion, petechiæ, or rupture. Rupture of the diaphragm is not uncommon. Congestion of the lungs, but especially of the skin and superficial structures of the body, and of the brain are natural results of the expulsion of blood from the abdominal cavity. _Treatment_. The desiderata are: relief from existing gaseous tension; arrest of further fermentation; and the restoration of the vermicular movement of the intestine. The two first indications may sometimes be successfully met by stimulants and antiseptics. Formerly, mild cases were successfully treated by oil of peppermint and oil of turpentine in oil, and a free use of enemata. A more modern resort is a large (virtually soporific) dose of chloral hydrate (1 oz.) given in solution. This is at once a powerful antiferment and an antispasmodic. It is moreover highly volatile and in the heat of the stomach is readily passed on into the duodenum and absorbed. Employed early it not only checks the production of gas, but it relaxes the whole intestinal tract and allows the free passage of accumulated gas which passes off rapidly per anum.