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harm from this form of rupture ; but, when the rupture follows suddenly any: 
sudden exertion, professional aid must be at once secured, as otherwise 
death will be almost certain. ; 
CHOKING. 
CHOKING is due to the impaction of a portion of food. Cut hay or chaff, 
swallowed rapidly, is especially liable to cause this condition. Frequently 
the obstruction consists of a piece of turnip, mangel wurzel, carrot, or potato ; 
and sometimes a whole egg given by an ignorant attendant, with the 
erroneous view of curing colic, proves to be the offending agent. Sometimes 
balls, made of larger size than they should be, will not pass down the gullet, 
and becoming lodged there, cause choking. Animals with voracious 
appetites, writes Percivall, are especially apt to bolt their corn, gulping it 
down so rapidly that the successive portions, instead of passing into the 
‘stomach, accumulate in the gullet and block up its channel. Only a small 
collection, or a large one, may thus be made, before the animal manifests 
any uneasiness. All at once he leaves off feeding. He makes every effort 
to empty his gullet, and to relieve himself of his increasing distress. Should 
he not succeed, his throat and neck become, through his ineffectual 
exertions, spasmodically drawn up. Probably he gives every now and again 
a loud shriek, no less expressive of his own anguish, than excitive of the 
compassion of those around him. Should he attempt to swallow water, the 
fluid, together with the saliva abounding in his mouth, returns through his 
nostrils. These urgent symptoms are not, however, always present, and 
they depend chiefly on the position of the obstructing body. Thus, when it 
is in the upper part of the gullet, the distress, coughing, and slavering are 
very urgent. When the obstruction is in the neck, there is a visible 
enlargement in the course of the gullet, the general symptoms being great 
anxiety of countenance, sunken head, tremors, and partial sweats over the 
body, with great exhaustion, shortly after the occurrence of the accident. 
The term choking is sometimes also employed for obstruction to the 
windpipe, which sometimes is pressed upon by a too small collar, or in other 
ways; but it should be merely used to designate impaction of material in 
the gullet. When the portion of the gullet in the chest is obstructed, the 
symptoms manifested are usually not so severe. Sometimes even, the horse 
will drink a little water. Vomiting is. uncommon in the horse; and, 
when it does occur, the contents of the gullet usually escape through 
the nostrils, though at times they make their way through the mouth. 
When the whole length of the gullet is obstructed, the symptoms are most 
severe, and the danger necessarily greater. A condition which may 
be mistaken for choking is hellebore-poisoning, a case of which we have just 
recorded in the April numbers of The Veterinarian and The Veterinary Journal 
for the year 1886. On March 6, we were called to a heavy draught horse 
said to be choking. The symptoms observed by the owner had supervened 
three hours after the administration of a ball, containing a large quantity of 
