232 THE OX AND THE DAIEY. 



penknife adroitly used will open the jugular vein ; let injec- 

 tions and fomentations be in the mean time prepared, and 

 let some one be sent off for the proper medicines, or for the 

 veterinary practitioner, who, understanding the case, will (or 

 ought to) bring them with him. Let us suppose that the 

 beast recovers, the disease and the remedies have given a 

 shock to the system not easily surmounted ; nay, a relapse 

 may take place, against which it is hopeless to contend. 

 What is the plan most advisable under all these circum- 

 stances ? Cautious and gradual preparation for the butcher. 

 The food should be at first suited to the animal's enfeebled 

 frame ; gruel and mashes, with a little ale occasionally added ; 

 a small quantity of succulent green fodder may be also given 

 from time to time, but nothing requiring laboured mas- 

 tication ; for the very action of the muscles of the jaws is apt 

 to bring on sudden cramps and spasms, indicative of the 

 irritability of the nerves which supply them. By slow 

 degrees the diet may be amended, and the animal at length 

 restored to good condition. After all, it is an expensive and 

 unsatisfactory affair, and at whatever price the farmer may 

 sell the beast, he will not be remunerated. 



OBSTRUCTION OF THE GULLET, OR CHOKING. 



All roots given to cattle should be first cut into small 

 pieces ; carelessness in this point is inexcusable. It is not 

 because roots have been given several times, without being 

 chopped up, and no evil consequences have ensued, that the 

 farmer or his servant may plume themselves on their security. 

 If they neglect this precaution they will most surely rue it 

 some day. One of the cows or oxen, carelessly masticating, 

 will swallow a large portion of turnip or parsnip, or perhaps 

 a whole potato, and it will remain fixed in the 'gullet ; firmly 

 impacted sometimes at its commencement, occasionally lower 

 down, and often within a few inches of the dilatation of the 

 oesophagus, where it joins the rumen. It may be felt exter 

 nally, and there can be little mistake about the matter. 

 What ensues? difficulty of respiration; violent husking; 

 spasmodic action of the muscles of deglutition ; repeated and 

 violent contractions of the abdominal muscles all laboured 

 efforts to expel the impacted root : the neck is strangely 

 arched, the nose poked forward ; mucus drips from the 

 mouth ; and the alvine evacuations are frequent, perhaps 

 involuntary But this is not all ; if the animal be not 



