DISEASES OF THE DIGESTIVE ORGANS. 139 



safely passed without casting, and it should never be passed on 

 until by examination in the furrow on the side of the neck, the 

 operator has ascertained that it has entered the gullet and is 

 clear of, and above the windpipe. For the small animals the 

 probang must be made correspondingly small. 



The use of whips and such like objects is very reprehensible 

 as being liable to tear the gullet An effective probang may be 

 constructed out of a piece of stiff new rope, a few of the bundles 

 of the end of which have been opened out and tied back so as 

 to form a cup-shaped extremity. After being used this may be 

 hung up straight on several nails driven into the wall, and will 

 be ready for the next occasion. 



In choking with finely divided food the probang only packs 

 it firmer, and gagging and time will rarely dislodge it. Pour 

 water or well-boiled gruel down, and seek by manipulation to 

 break up the mass and allow it to pass on little by little. In- 

 struments have also been devised for extracting the obstructing 

 mass. Failing otherwise, the gullet must be laid open, the 

 offending matter extracted, the wounds sewed up, and the 

 animal fed for a time on liquids only. 



Horses are sometimes choked by eggs given by foolish 

 grooms. These may be punctured with a needle and then 

 crushed between two solid bodies on different sides of the neck. 



Prevention. — Besides the more obvious resort of withholding 

 dangerous articles, the mere tying down of the head will 

 prevent choking in cattle feeding on turnips, apples, etc. A 

 loop of rope fixed to the ground is to be hung over the horn 

 when such food is supplied. Solid food should be to a large 

 extent withheld for a week after the relief of choking, until the 

 slight irritation or inflammation has subsided. 



STRICTURE AND DILATATION OF THE GULLET. 



These usually coexist, the first giving rise to the second, 

 because of habitual accumulation ot food above the narrow 



