CHOKED CATTLE. 295 



Fig. 3 will be presently described. 



Fig. 4 is a piece of strong, thick wood, widest in 

 the centre, and perforated for the passage of the 

 tube. Its use is to keep the mouth open during the 

 use of the probatig; and it is secured by leather 

 straps nailed to the extremities, and buckled round 

 the horns. The farmer should have another mouth- 

 piece, with a central hole that will admit the passage 

 of a small hand. He will thus be enabled to grasp 

 and remove any obstruction that has not descended 

 beyond the commencement of the gullet. 



Let it be supposed that a cow has swallowed a 

 potato or turnip too large to descend the gullet, and 

 thus arrested in its progress, and evidently seen at 

 a certain distance down the throat. The farmer 

 should have immediate recourse to the tube, intro- 

 ducing the flatter end, and using moderate force. 

 If the body yields to this, he is justified in pushing 

 it into the chest ; but if it is with difficulty pushed 

 on, the operator should instantly cease attempting 

 to drive it down, for the fibres of the gullet soon be- 

 come irritated by distention, and grasp the foreign 

 substance, as it were, spasmodically. The gullet 

 also itself becomes smaller as soon as it enters the 

 thorax, and a substance that moves easily in the 

 upper part can scarcely be moved at ill in the lower 

 portion. 



But if it cannot be driven down, it may perhaps be 

 solicited or drawn upward. The fibres of the gullet 

 have allowed the substance to pass them, and are 

 somewhat weakened by the unnatural distention; 

 and, not having recovered their tone, they may yield 

 again. The internal coat of the gullet is smooth and 

 yielding : it may, however, be made more so, and 

 some effect may also be produced on the surface of 

 the obstructing body. Half a pint of olive oil should 

 be poured down, a persevering attempt being made 

 by the fingers externally to give the body a retro- 

 grade motion. When moved sufficiently upward, it 



