658 
AN ADDRESS TO STUDENTS. 
During the whole period that he was ill, except when a few fits of 
apparent choking or suffocation took place, the respiration was not 
so bad as might be imagined, and there were no indications of 
death from suffocation ; nevertheless, his respiration was consider- 
ably increased and laboured, and the air seemed, both during in- 
spiration and expiration, as if drawn in and forced out of the lungs 
with great difficulty, and just in the manner — now we know the 
cause — that we might have imagined it would have been. There 
can be no doubt that he must have breathed through the sponge, 
although it completely filled the trachea. 
Although I believe that the pony was choked, there being the 
usual symptoms but in a milder degree, yet I thought that there 
was something unusual and mysterious about the case, indicating 
more of pneumonia, or, perhaps, tracheitis or bronchitis, and which 
I fancied might have been produced by the pressure of the offending 
body on the trachea. The symptoms of choking, on the contrary, 
must have been produced by the pressure from without on the oeso- 
phagus by the sponge in the trachea, and from there being simi- 
lar symptoms in a case like this when trying to remove the offend- 
ing body from the windpipe. 
AN ADDRESS TO STUDENTS. 
By the Editor of “ The Lancet .” 
Another year has passed, and hundreds of students are 
flocking into the great metropolis to complete their medical studies. 
In accordance with our annual custom, we shall now address a few 
words of advice to our young friends. 
To those who have already spent a year in town the routine of 
the life of medical students is well-known. They have made their 
choice, and are either diligent and attentive to their studies, thus 
paving the way for future prosperity; or otherwise they have 
fallen and become a prey to dissipation, thus preparing themselves 
for a career of imposture, not to say of crime. To the first, we 
can merely say, persevere, and you will be rewarded, not only by 
the approbation of your own conscience, but, in all probability, by 
deserved success in the profession which you have chosen. The 
latter we most urgently implore to change while there is yet time. 
The year lost can never be regained, it is true ; yet much may be 
done in the period which still remains towards acquiring a good 
practical knowledge of the profession. If that is misspent, if pleasure 
