118 RUPTURE AND STRICTURE OF THE @SOPHAGUS. 
The only palliative for so pitiable a condition is carefully-prepared 
food—gruel and such substances given in small quantities at a time. 
The horse, however, when it requires such support, generally has been 
so much lowered by disease as not to be’ worth its ordinary keep. No 
one cares merely to prolong the equine life; the animal is only permitted 
to live because of the profit man can make out of its labor; yet, for the 
full meanness of the last motive, let the horse proprietor seek a better 
class of servants for his grooms. Let him abolish the stunted, long- 
faced, narrow-headed compounds of mischief and of treachery which are 
now the common inhabitants of every mews. Before doing so, however, 
he must amend himself; he must be prepared to teach by example; the 
present groom only fulfills the wishes and panders to the pride of the 
master. Were a higher order of stable-men desired, the longing could 
easily be supplied; but fashion pronounces in favor of the present, natty 
affectations, and men with more solid qualities naturally refuse to compete 
in an arena so unworthily occupied. 
Before quitting this subject, a caution must be given against all pro- 
bangs as at present made. The cow probang is evidently unsuited to 
the equine gullet. The horse instrument has the bell of the cow probang 
attached to a piece of whalebone; when a narrow channel is to be 
entered, the bulk of the leading substance is of all importance. That 
which goes in front, not that which lies behind, has then to be con- 
sidered; so, in spite of the whalebone, the present horse probang is 
nothing more than the cow instrument in disguise. 
The probang intended for the horse should be formed like that em- 
ployed upon the human subject. It should consist of a long slip of fine 
whalebone, having a sponge fixed to one end; when required, the sponge 
should be thoroughly saturated in water or in oil, (according to the cir- 
cumstances,) then squeezed dry and forced down the esophagus. The 
The horse probang as at the present made. 
=<] 
That which should be employed. 
THE HORSE PROBANG, AS IT IS AND AS IT OUGHT TO BE. 
material would adapt itself to every cavity, would fill the largest, but 
could not harm the smallest; would as effectually remove every obstruc- 
tion, but would not be so difficult to retract, if the head should by 
accident pass the cardiac orifice. 
