CHOKING. 249 



or improper shape^ even an egg, have all of them proved 

 causes of obstruction. In vol. xvii of ' The Vete- 

 rinarian/ Mr. Tennant mentions a case in which grass 

 '' well-masticated/^ had become firmly impacted and formed 

 the obstruction. Horses, voracious feeders, are very apt in 

 their avidity to bolt their corn whole, and gulp it down so 

 rapidly that the successive portions, instead of passing on 

 into the stomach, accumulate within the gullet, aud block up 

 its canal. Only a small collection^ or else a large and 

 expanded one, may in this manner arise before the animal 

 feels or expresses uneasiness. All at once he leaves off 

 feeding. Next, he makes every effort in his power to com- 

 plete his imperfect swallow, and gulp down the cause of his 

 distress. Should he uot succeed, his throat and neck 

 become, through his gulping and ineffectual efforts at deglu- 

 tition, spasmodically drawn up ; and probably he gives every 

 now and then a loud shriek, no less expressive of his own 

 anguish than excitive of the sympathy of those around him. 

 Should he attempt to swallow water, the fluid, together with 

 a quantity of thick ropy saliva collected in his mouth, 

 returns through his nostrils. There do occur cases, however, 

 in which such notably characteristic signs are not met with, 

 or, at least, are not present at the time we happen to be called 

 in; and there may exist reasons on the part of those in 

 attendance for concealing what has passed from us. The 

 refusal of food, with symptoms of apparent sore throat, con- 

 nected with circumstances of a suspicious nature, are enough 

 to induce us to scrutinise the pharynx and oesophagus well 

 with our fingers, in order to detect any tumor or prominence 

 that may exist; we may also give the animal water, with a 

 view of ascertaining whether there be obstruction of any sort 

 or not. Should the fluid be ejected through the nose, we 

 are warranted in introducing a probang; than which, in case 

 the obstructing body lie below the neck, we possess no other 

 means so sure of discovering its seat, or any so ready of 

 removing it, even in any situation. A probang, however, is 

 an instrument in the possession of professional persons only, 

 and one, even with them, which often happens to be at home 



