CHOKING, 159 



too large for it which an animal can conveniently grind be- 

 tween its teeth. This is especially the case with the earni- 

 vora. I "have often been interested to see the lions and tigers 



Fig. 80. 



in menageries greedily swallow a large mass of flesh, and from 

 its size it might penetrate the gullet, but was ejected to be 

 torn again before it could pass on to the stomach. Persons 

 have often singular notions of food going the wrong way, 

 that is to say, penetrating the windpipe. This is very rare 

 in the lower animals ; but last year I was asked to ascertain 

 the cause of a sudden death in a favourite setter; and I found 

 a lump of beef fixed by its lower end in the larynx, and dis- 

 tending also the pharynx. In shape it was not unlike a 

 champagne cork, but much larger. Amongst the bulky 



