THE OX AND THE DAIRY. 197 



On examination after death, the lining membrane of the 

 larynx and bronchise show the result of violent inflammation 

 in ulcerated patches and gangrene, the gullet being also more 

 or less involved in the disease. The windpipe is generally 

 filled with purulent matter ; and if the disease has extended 

 to the bronchial tubes, the same appearances are there also 

 presented ; but these tubes are often choked up with parasitic 

 worms of the genus filaria, and they appear also in the wind- 

 pipe. In bronchitis of the horse, a species of the worm 

 strongylus equinus in like manner is found to throng the 

 bronchial tubes. It is not easy to account for the presence of 

 these worms, unless we suppose their minute eggs to be taken 

 in with the air or food, and pass through the lacteals into the 

 blood, which carries them through the circulation, till at 

 length they find a nidus appropriate for their development ; 

 but there is still this difficulty, Whence came the eggs into 

 the air or among the food? The worms, as it would appear, 

 are exclusively the inmates of living creatures : how do they 

 spread ? how do they extend their colonies ? This is not the 

 place for speculation. In laryngitis, that is, inflammation of 

 the larynx not extending down the windpipe, recourse must 

 be had very promptly to bleeding, smart aperients, blisters, 

 and a seton of hellebore. If the disease runs on, suffocation 

 ensues ; but, should this catastrophe threaten, tracheotomy 

 must be performed : that is, the trachea must be opened, and 

 respiration carried on through a tube or canula. No one but 

 an experienced veterinary surgeon can perform the operation, 

 or should attempt it. If the disease extend to the trachea or 

 windpipe, the same treatment is necessary. 



In bronchitis, or inflammation of the branches of the wind- 

 pipe which ramify through the lungs, the symptoms are a 

 cough, which becomes more and more husky and wheezing ; 

 a rapid and laborious breathing ; the flanks heaving ; the 

 belly tucked up ; the hide staring ; the skin hide-bound ; an 

 anxious, restless expression ; a disinclination to move ; an in- 

 crease of the painful cough, and a hurriedness of respiration, 

 on taking a few steps. The animal wastes away, and dies a 

 skeleton, often by suffocation ; the air tubes being blocked up 

 by the thickening of the lining membrane, by mucus, and by 

 worms. 



To this disease young cattle are peculiarly subject ; and we 

 need not say that it is one of a most destructive nature. The 

 great object at the commencement of the attack is to subdue 



