Digestive Organs of the Ox and Sheep. 
47 
instruments 
a gag ; the 
) 
and making repeated attempts to regurgitate, which arc associated 
with eructations. 
The amount of danger may mostly be calculated by the ab- 
dominal distention, for death results from the lungs being unable 
to expand, in consequence of the pressure of the rumen against 
the diaphragm. In many cases, therefore, prior to unchoking the 
patient, the gaseous compounds which are disengaged from the 
ingesta and distend the rumen must be given an exit to, by 
puncturing that viscus, to prevent suffocation. The 
employed for unchoking consist of a probang and 
latter of these is to be placed in 
the mouth, as shown in the fol- 
lowing sketch. The probang, 
being also held as represented, is 
to be passed through the opening 
in the gag, and carried carefully 
over the dorsum of the tongue into 
the pharynx, and from thence 
pushed onwards until it reaches 
the root. Sufficient and well- 
regulated pressure is now to be 
made, until the obstruction yields, 
when it is to be driven by the in- 
strument into the rumen. Care 
should always be taken to propel 
the root into the first stomach, and 
we should never rely on the power 
of the oesophagus to do this after 
we have succeeded in removing it 
from its original situation. Want 
of attention to this simple rule 
has often caused protracted suffer- 
ing to the animal, and not unfre- 
quently his death. The probangs 
in ordinary use are seldom of suffi- 
cient length, nor are the bulbs with 
which they are tipped of a proper 
shape : the instrument should not 
be less, for a moderate sized ox, 
than six feet and a half long, and 
the bulbs should be largfe and 
slightly cup-shaped. In selecting 
probangs, avoid those which have 
conical formed bulbs, for they are 
likely to pass by the side of the 
root and force it through the coats 
of the oesophagus. 
