DISEASES OF THE MOUTH, ETC. 201 



and then quickly withdrawing it. I then passed it up again, 

 and withdrew it a second time, in order to remove completely, 

 or as far as conld be, whatever might be lodged in the larynx. 

 I put two stitches in the skin over the opening in the windpipe, 

 and did nothing more. The mare was greatly relieved, and 

 brought up a colt she had. When the colt was fit for weaning, 

 the mare being of little value, was destroyed, and then the 

 ulceration in the pharynx was discovered. I saw the animal 

 just before she was killed, and found her breathing freely and 

 looking tolerably well (considering she had been kept at grass, 

 and on a common), and with a good udder of milk. But the 

 owner informed me that she appeared sometimes much dis- 

 tressed, and coughed a great deal, probably by some food still 

 getting into the larynx. 



Obstructions in the (Esophagus 



Are produced by pieces of carrots or turnips, or by balls given 

 as medicine. When carrots or turnips are used as articles of 

 diet, they should be cut into thin slices ; but they are too fre- 

 quently chopped into junks, one of which is sometimes bolted 

 and sticks in the gullet. The obstruction may also be produced by 

 balls given as medicine. Cases of this kind ought never to occur ; 

 for balls, when properly made and skilfully given, will pass into 

 the stomach with certainty and ease. Balls may also stick in 

 the pharynx, and then they may be drawn out with the hand. 

 Such cases occur more frequently than the former ; and from 

 not being understood, the ball generally remains until gradually 

 dissolved, or till it is thrown into the nostrils, where it causes 

 considerable inflammation, and such a discharge of matter as 

 has been mistaken for the glanders. 



I have known balls stick in the oesophagus or gullet, and so 

 low down in the passage as to be out of sight, and not suspected ; 

 I have known three horses destroyed in this way. In two of 

 them the ball was wrapped in brown paper ; and in one the ball 

 was as hard as stone, and had destroyed the internal membrane 

 of the oesophagus. These cases prove the necessity of giving 

 balls when recently made, and not too hard or large. To avoid 

 this evil, in givino; a ball we should never be satisfied imtil we 

 see it pass down the greater part of the oesophagus. 



[If the obstruction lie in the throat, it may often be removed 

 by the hand, but if it cannot be reached, an instrument called a 

 probang, consisting of a long piece of whalebone, with a handle 

 at one end and a ball of wood at the other, should be carefully 

 passed down the oesophagus, so as to force into the stomach the 

 obstructing body. This probang has been lately improved by 

 Mr. Simonds, who has invented an instrument to extract the 



