98 



about 6 inches down over the windpipe and in the space between the 

 lower jaws. This liniment should be applied once a day for two or 

 three days. 



- When the animal can swallow without much difficulty, give the fol- 

 lowing preparation : Fluid extract hyoscyamus 1 dram, powdered chlo- 

 rate potassium 2 drams, simple sirup or molasses 2 ounces. Mix all. 

 together and drench very carefully. Repeat the dose every six hours. 



If the animal is breathing with great difficulty do not attempt to 

 drench him, but persevere in steaming the nostrils, and dissolve 2 

 drams of chlorate of potassium in every gallon of water he will drink ; 

 even if he can not swallow much of it (and even if it is returned through 

 the nostrils), it will be of some benefit as a gargle to the pharynx. 



When the breathing begins to be loud great relief isaftbrded in some 

 cases by giving a drench composed of 2 drams of fluid extract of jab- 

 orandi in half a pint of water. If benefit is derived, this drench may 

 be repeated four or five hours after the first dose is given. It will 

 cause a free flow of saliva from the mouth within thirty minutes. 



In urgent cases, when suffocation seems inevitable, the operation of 

 tracheotomy must be performed. It must be admitted that this oper- 

 ation appears to be (to the non-professional) a verj^ formidable one, but 

 as it is certainly a means of saving life where all other measures have 

 failed, it is the duty of the writer to describe it. To describe this 

 operation in words that would make it comprehensible to the general 

 reader is a much more difficult task than performing the operation, which 

 in the hands of the expert is one of the simplest, and attended with 

 less danger (from the operation itself) than any of the special operations 

 on organs. 



The operator should be provided with a tracheotomy tube (to be 

 purchased from any veterinary instrument maker) and a sharp knife, a 

 sponge, and a bucket of clean cold water. The place to be selected for 

 opening the windpipe is that part which is found, upon examination, 

 to be least covered with muscles. Run your hand down the front part 

 of the windpipe and you may easily detect the rings of cartilage of 

 which it is composed ; about 5 or 6 inches below the throat it will be 

 the most plainly felt. Right here, then, is the place to cut through. 

 Have an assistant hold the animal's head still ; no necessity of putting 

 a twitch on the nose. Grasp youj- knife firmly in the right hand, select 

 the spot to cut, and cut. Make the cut from above to below directly on 

 the median line on the anterior surface of the windpipe. Do not 

 attemi^t to dissect your way in, that is too slow, it annoys the horse 

 and makes him restless, and besides it gives a novice time to become 

 nervous. Make the cut about 2 inches long in the icindpipe ; this 

 necessitates cutting three or four rings. One bold, nervy stroke is 

 usually sufficient,. but if it is necessary to make several other cuts to 

 finish the operation do not hesitate. Your intention. must be to make 

 a hole in the windpipe sufficiently large to admit the tracheotomy tube, 



