SURGICAL OPERATIONS. . 309 



close, the hand should be held over the opening, which will necessitate 

 the animal to use ks natural passages in breathing. Observe if it is 

 performed in a natural manner, and if so remove the tube and allow 

 the wound to close. This is the general mode of procedure where the 

 surgeon has all the necessary instruments and a moderate amount of 

 time at his disposal. Often it has to be performed in great haste with- 

 out the proper instruments and under great disadvantages, the operator 

 having to quickly cut down and open the trachea and spread the parts, 

 using some instrument improvised by him at the time. This operation 

 only gives the animal relief in breathing, and therefore the proper 

 remedial treatment should be adopted at the onset of the attack and 

 continued until the cause (the disease) has been overcome. 



CHOKING. 



Choking, or the lodging of foreign bodies in the gullet is divided into 

 pharyngeal, cervical, and thoracic, according to location of the obstruc- 

 tion. The symptoms in general are uneasiness on the part of the 

 patient, involuntary movement of the jaws, grinding of the teeth, a 

 profuse escape of saliva and tympanitis of the rumen. If the obstruc- 

 tion is in the pharynx the mouth speculum should be introduced and 

 the hand and arm of the operator oiled and inserted and an effort made 

 to remove the obstruction. If this should be unsuccessful it will prob- 

 ably be necessary to have recourse to the probang, (Plate in, Fig. 2), 

 which should be carefully introduced and the obstruction slowly pushed 

 downwards toward the rumen, care being taken not to lacerate the 

 coats of the o?sophagus. An operation known as o?sophagotoiny may 

 be performed in case the above efforts have failed. I will briefly de- 

 scribe the steps to be taken in such an emergency. 



CESOPHAGOTOMV. 



This operation is easily performed, but, as above stated, should not 

 be resorted to unless all other methods have failed, as wounds of the 

 oesophagus are difficult to manage, and tend to produce a stricture of 

 the tube. 



To perform the operation have a strong assistant clovate the animal's 

 head so as to stretch and render tense the inferior muscles of the neck. 

 With a sharp convex bistoury make a longitudinal incision through 

 the skin, muscles, and coats of the (esophagus directly down upon the 

 obstacle, care being taken not to make the incision any longer than 

 necessary. After the obstruction is removed the wound in theu'sopha 

 gus is closed and sutured with carboli/ed catgut, then the divided 

 muscle and skin brought in apposition and secured. The animal 

 should bo fed on gruels for a few days and the wound dressed daily 

 upon the same general principles as an ordinary wound. 



