NEUROTOMY.] 



THE HOESE, AND 



(nefeotomt. 



tighter. The person at the head must keep 

 that secure; for all the eflforts to disengage 

 himself are first begun by endeavouring to get 

 his head at liberty, so that he may raise his 

 fore parts. Plenty of straw should be placed 

 underneath his head, so that he may lie as 

 easy as possible. Care also must be taken 

 that the horse breathe freely when down, and 

 that no more time be wasted in the operation 

 than is absolutely necessary, as many animals 

 struo^o-le the whole of the time, and exhaust 

 themselves very much. 



BRONCHOTOMY. 



Broncliotomy is an operation performed on 

 !he bronchia, or wind-pipe, in bad cases of 

 strangles, or when tumours exist in the throat, 

 which threaten the animal with suffocation ; 

 or if an apple, potato, or a piece of carrot has 

 slipped into the oesophagus, &c. 



The operation of tracheotomy is not of a 

 difficult nature, and consists in making a lon- 

 gitudinal section through two or three of the 

 rings, occupying about an inch square, that 

 may be taken away from the front of the car- 

 tilaginous substance. A flexible tube should 

 then be introduced into the opening, and re- 

 tained there as long as possible. — This opera- 

 tion has been performed in cases of roaring ; 

 those who performed it thinking the obstruc- 

 tion much lower down than it is. 



CESOPHAGOTOMY. 



The oesophagus may be readily divided, in 

 cases of strangulation, from the obstruction of 

 too large a ball, an apple, or from the accu- 

 mulation of dry bran and chaff, which some- 

 times takes place in greedy horses. 



NEUROTOMY. 



I^eurotomrj, or the nerve operation, spoken 

 of some time back, now comes under our 

 notice. We have stated that this operation 

 was performed for diseases of the feet, princi- 

 pally of such as are dependent on a contracted 

 form, or otherwise altered in the form of the 

 hoofs, excepting the pumiced hoof. The nerves 

 having been long known as the medium of 

 sensation, many cases of lameness in the feet 

 occur, which render horses useless, principally 

 from the pain and tenderness consequent on 

 the pressure of some parts of the foot, long 

 322 



since altered by disease ; but which are not 

 now actively engaged in a disorganising pro- 

 cess. 



Where there is reason to expect considerable 

 disorganisation of the internal parts of the feet, 

 such as ossification, or total absorption of the 

 articular cartilages, or diseased alteration of 

 the bones within ; the horny box, or where 

 inflammation of the laminae may have wholly de- 

 stroyed their sensibility, or where the mucous 

 capsules have, from disease, ceased to yield any, 

 or but a partial supply of synovia — in all such 

 cases the operation cannot be expected to re- 

 store the mobility of anchylosed parts, nor 

 can it restore the lost organisation ; but, even 

 in such cases, when morbid processes are not 

 actually going on, but seem stationary, and 

 the animal is rather suffering under the efiecta 

 of former than of present disease, this opera- 

 tion has, by rendering the animal less suscep- 

 tible to the pain of pressure, enabled him to 

 move and exert himself with more ease to him- 

 self, and benefit to his owner. When violent 

 inflammation is in the foot, however, that must 

 be removed, or tried to be removed, before 

 the operation is attempted to be performed. 



Sometimes it has happened, in such cases, 

 by removing sensation and rendering the 

 animal willing to exert himself more than the 

 state of the parts will allow, that great aggra- 

 vation of the disease has frequently followed. 

 We believe it has never been found to answer 

 in the disease called pumiced foot ; the opera- 

 tion there being particularly hurtful. Neither 

 should we recommend it in any disease of the 

 foot, until we had tried every other means 

 without accomplishing some good Should suc- 

 cess not attend other applications, we should 

 not then hesitate in immediately performing 

 this operation. In others, according to cir- 

 cumstances, with the exception before insisted 

 on. Neurotomy has been found to render 

 many horses with contracted feet, and other 

 wise foot-lamed, not only useful, but has ren- 

 dered them nearly as perfect, in their mode of 

 going, as ever. Some have hunted, many have 

 made excellent roadsters, and all have been 

 fitted for carriage work of every description. 



The importance of tliis operation, though 

 great in veterinary practice, is in some mea- 

 sure removed, when attended with misfortune 

 afterwards. This may arise from the iuflam- 



