500 
STRANGLES. 
The history of the case was this. “ The horse had been 
unwell for some days, when suddenly this afternoon these 
symptoms had come on, and, although the farrier had 
done all he could, they thought (as the horse seemed 
scarcely able to breathe) the best thing would be to insert 
a tube in his windpipe.” 
Upon examination, I found the vital powers were far less 
depressed than a casual observance would have led me to 
expect. The extremities were warm ; and there was no 
appearance of pneumonia. The roaring, I observed, prin- 
cipally took place during expiration . It could not, therefore, 
be from the ordinary causes. The horse drank freely and 
copiously of cold water, showing there was no obstruction to 
deglutition. Upon auscultating the chest, trachea, and throat, 
I was enabled to refer the noise to the nasal passages, and 
finally, to fix upon fhe palatine region as being the seat of 
the temporary lesion. Having mentally arrived at a con- 
clusion respecting these violent symptoms, 1 proceeded to a 
more minute inspection. The pulse was quick and feeble ; 
the visible mucous membranes blanched ; the submaxillary 
glands swollen, and the throat bore evidence of having been 
stimulated. There was no nasal discharge, and the air came 
freely from both nostrils. The horse had had a cough, and 
was reported to have shown symptoms of a slight cold. 
Although the owner had bred him, no one recollected his 
having had the strangles. Its value was 70 guineas. My 
diagnosis was, therefore, ce strangles,” occurring at a late 
period and in an unusual form, and accompanied by pa- 
roxysms, the cause of which is at present obscure. 
Upon asking the question, 1 found that the farrier had 
given a ball just before the roaring commenced. I accordingly 
explored the fauces, but could not discover anything, and it 
was not until the third day after my first attendance that I 
was informed that the ball was coughed up again with great 
violence ; and, consequently, the farrier must, from the first, 
have been aware of the cause of the alarming excitement. 
I mention this, to show the necessity of caution in pro- 
nouncing a diagnosis, since it is often the interest of indivi- 
duals, not only to hide circumstances from our knowledge, 
but sometimes wilfully to mislead us. 
My opinion being formed, I of course declined performing 
the operation of tracheotomy, considering that the severity of 
the symptoms would subside under the treatment which would 
be adopted for the affection itself. 
Treatment . — Apply a blister to the throat and larynx ; let 
the bowels be relieved by glysters, and the patient have a 
