444 
ON THE CHOKING OF CATTLE. 
purgative was by this time (the forenoon of the 12th) acting freely 
with all the rest of the calves ; and from this date I did not hear 
more of them for three or four days, when I was told that the three 
that were ill when I left were dead, but had been skinned and 
buried without letting me know — most likely, for fear of further 
disclosures. I was, however, informed by one of the cattle-men 
on the farm, that their lungs were in the same state as the others — 
* black/ he said, 1 inside and outside.’ 
I have entered into the details of these cases the more fully, as 
a report was circulated at the time when they occurred that the 
calves had been poisoned by something improper being introduced, 
either intentionally or accidentally, into the medicine ; and the 
owner, influenced by such report, no doubt, threatened an action 
of damages for recovery of their value. Although not specially 
called upon by the object of the present paper for a refutation of 
such a groundless charge, yet, as similar surmises may arise in 
other cases, I may be allowed to mention two things which shew 
its utter fallacy : First, that the dose of medicine given contained 
only the ordinary purgative materials daily administered by every 
veterinarian, and in a quantity proportioned to the size and age 
of the animals ; and, second, that they died under a train of symp- 
toms which no known medicine is capable of producing (whether 
poisonous or not), provided it be properly introduced into the sto- 
mach ; but which the most harmless material, even water-gruel, 
will occasion, if forced into the air-passages, as I have shewn 
reason to believe it was in the cases cited. 
Case V. — Nov, 24th, at M . A cow, four years old, had 
obstinate constipation, coupled with derangement of the uterus, 
being at calving. She had a strong purgative, which, however, 
operated tardily. I ordered her to have salted gruel twice a-day. 
On giving the second or third dose the owner himself choked her. 
She coughed violently, and made considerable resistance to taking 
more of the gruel. On seeing her a short time after, the usual 
symptoms of bronchitis were very evident : — quickened breathing, 
with neck stretched out, and lifting of the sides; occasional hard 
irritable cough; dilatation of the nostrils, with blowing out of mucus, 
&c. ; hot mouth and breath ; and a quick, sharp pulse. In this case, 
the owner was holding the cow by the nose while giving the gruel, 
but quitted as soon as she coughed; and from this, and there 
being no symptoms of congestion in any part of the lungs, I was 
led to infer that the gruel had got no farther into the air-passage 
than the larynx, the bronchial symptoms being due to an exten- 
sion of the subsequent irritation. As the bowels were still con- 
fined, I gave, with considerable care and difficulty some more 
physic. I applied a smart blister along the course of the trachea, 
