THE DIGESTIVE ORGANS 



H5 



this case, all that can be reached by the hand must be removed, and 

 the animal given a drench of warm water and skim milk mixed, or, 

 better still, thin oatmeal gruel, which induces the action of the gullet, 

 the gruel to be put through a milk strainer or muslin. Should this 

 not succeed, the small end of the probang must be passed with great 

 care. The injection of a dose of arecoline hydrobromide under the 

 skin causes excessive salivation and foaming at the mouth, when, in 

 some cases, the obstruction passes down into the stomach. Arecoline 



Fig. 4. — Choking. 



can also be used for cows. Cattle, however, are more subject to 

 choking than horses. They foam at the mouth and soon begin to 

 swell up on the left side, switching the tail and stamping the feet, 

 and this action is accompanied by diarrhoea. Treatment. — If the 

 obstruction — usually a potato or turnip — can be felt, an attempt 

 should be made to work the foreign substance up again into the 

 mouth by putting one arm round the cow's neck and, with the 

 fingers on each side of the gullet below the offending body, pressing 

 it firmly and forcibly into the mouth. If this method does not 

 succeed, and the object cannot be withdrawn by the hand, the 

 turnip-rope may be used. This should always be done very care- 



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