CHOKING. 109 



the abdomen swells from the inflation of the paunch with gas. Some- 

 times the beast will die in a very short time, but the urgency of the case 

 depends much on the situation and the size of the obstructing body. 



If the rumen is so distended as to threaten immediate suilbcation, 

 it will be proper to puncture it ; but this, if possible, should be avoided. 

 It will next be desirable to ascertain the situation of the obstruction. 

 Sometimes it will be found that the body is impacted at the back of 

 the mouth or beginning of the cesophagus : in these cases by using a 

 balling-iron the object can frequently be removed by passing up the 

 hand. 



If, however, the substance is situated low down the tube, it will be 

 desirable to force it onwards. For this purpose half a pint of oil 

 should be given to liibricate the passage as much as possible, and 

 then the beast, being properly secured, and a gag placed in the mouth, 

 a flexible tube or rod, with a knob at the end, should be carefully 

 passed down the oesophagus until it reaches the body : a steady 

 pressure should now be employed to force it onwards ; but this should 

 be done patiently, so as not to injure the parts. By alternately resting 

 and trying again, the object will generally be removed. 



If the object is situated near the mouth, but not sufficiently so as 

 to be reached by the hand, it can best be removed by means of an in- 

 strument invented by Mr. Simonds, and which is constructed so as to 

 embrace the obstructing body by a forceps, concealed in the bulb at 

 the end of the tube, and thus to remove it upwards by the mouth. 



After forcing the object into the stomach it will be desirable to let 

 the probang remain a short time, if the animal is hoven, to afford an 

 exit for the gas : and this may be assisted by pressing the flanks. 



No solid food should be allowed for several days afterwards, as 

 there is great danger of a repetition of the choking until the muscles 

 entirely recover their tone. Sometimes; after all attempts of removing 

 the body by the methods before described have failed, it will be pro- 

 per to do so by means of an operation which has been performed with 

 success; and this consists in making an incision through the skin 

 into the oesophagus, sufficiently large to extract the body. Great care 

 must be exercised so as not to injure the important nerves and blood- 

 vessels situated near the part. The beast should be cast for the 

 operation, and the wound carefully sewed up afterwards, and for 

 several days the food should consist principally of gruel. 



[A gentleman who has been much in Spain says that it is a common practice 

 there, when cattle get choked with apples, or other such subetances, for two or three 

 men to seize thrm and lay their neck over a log of wood, and then the operator 

 feeling for the obstruction, strikes a smart blow immediately over it, with a mallet 

 or billet of wood, sufficient to crush the apple to pieces, which instantly begins to 

 be blown out, and the animal is relieved. The expedient appears to be practicable, 

 where the obstruction can be felt externally and come at in this way. The probang 

 mentioned in this chapter has been exhibited by an appropriate drawing, page 104, 

 In the belief that it is not of suj^h familiar use, or so generally known among us, as 

 in England. — S.] 

 10 



