TRACHEOTOMY. 



45] 



is more apt to result from partial excision of the cartilages than 

 from splitting the trachea. 



Tracheotomy is conveniently performed whilst the horse is 

 standing. The animal should be placed so that the front of the 

 neck is well lighted. A twitch is lightly applied, and the horse, 

 if still restless, has each ear held by a strong man. The head is held 

 well up, and the hair clipped from the seat of operation in a narrow 

 strip, 3 to 4 inches in length, in the middle line of the neck. The 

 operator grasps the skin with the left hand and lifts a horizontal 



Figs. 351, 352, 353.- — Thompson's tracheotome. 



fold'aboutjl inch high, exactly in the centre of the shorn patch, and 

 makes a vertical incision through the fold. This prevents the skin 

 wound being made larger than intended, in consequence of the 

 animal suddenly stretching the neck, though in phlegmatic horses, 

 and those suffering from severe illness or dyspnoea, the precaution 

 is hardly necessary. 



The skin having been incised, the muscles lying below it are 

 divided in the middle line, the proper point being indicated by its 

 lighter colour (connective tissue), and the trachea is exposed. In 

 well-bred horses with thin cervical muscles this procedure is very 



