534 DISEASES OF THE PHARYNX, OSSOPHAGUS, ETC. 



drink ; was dejected ; saliva with mucus ran from liis nose, and 

 much of it he swallowed. He was bled ; took an aperient with 

 digitalis ; and his throat was blistered, from a notion that " the 

 substance might have injured his throat." Tliird day, much 

 the same. " Takes gruel from a bottle, and will not eat." Mr. 

 C, from the first, had no hope of saving him, and early next 

 morning he died. On dissection, a large-sized hen's egg, entirely 

 whole, was found firmly impacted in the oesophagus, within a 

 few inches of its cardiac termination ; the parietes of the tube 

 around the egg being " much dilated, and ulcerated nearly 

 tlu-ough." The groom confessed he had given the egg a few 

 hours before Mr. C. was sent for, with a view of improving the 

 horse's condition. The balls which had been given must have 

 passed the egg in a liquid state, probably along with the gruel. 

 — Veterinarian, 1835. 



Treatment of Clwhing. — In all cases where the obstruction is 

 at the back of the mouth, or high in the throat, and within 

 reach of the operator's hand, it is to be removed through the 

 mouth. Wlien the impaction is in the pharynx, and barely 

 within reach of the fingers, its removal will be rendered less 

 difficult by pulling the tongue well out of the mouth ; but if it 

 be impossible to remove it thus, the object may be pushed upwards 

 by an assistant. Should the offending body be sharp-pointed, it 

 will be necessary to remove it by the forceps ; in dogs this form 

 of choking will be most commonly met with. 



Failing removal by the mouth, or when the object is too far 

 down to be reached by the hand, it should be manipulated on 

 the outside, and gently pushed upwards and downwards ; and if 

 it can thus be made to move either way in the shghtest degi^ee, 

 its total spontaneous disappearance may confidently be looked 

 for. Should this method, however, fail, the object may be 

 removed by causing the animal to swallow liquids, more espe- 

 cially demulcents, such as gruel, or what is better, an emulsion 

 made by mixing equal quantities of oil and water, blended 

 together by the addition of a small proportion of the carbonate 

 of potash. 



In choking ^vith dry food, the emulsion must always be used, 

 as the probang is inadmissible, on the ground that it merely acts 

 as a ramrod, and converts a loose impaction into a hard, almost 

 impermeable, mass. In addition to causing the animal to swal- 



