ON THE CHOKING OF CATTLE. 
449 
joists, as by doing* so they are precluded the relief afforded by 
getting down the head and coughing, in case of an accident occur- 
ring. Nor is there any use in the pinching and thumbing of the 
throat, which many would-be-skilful persons practise. If an ani- 
mal obstinately retain a portion of the drench in its mouth, the only 
manipulation that will cause it to swallow, is to produce motion of 
the lower jaw and tongue, which will be done best by putting the 
fingers into the angle of the mouth and causing it to chew, or by 
pressing or rubbing gently upon the base of the tongue, between 
the lower jaws. 
By attending to the simple indications of Nature which I have 
above mentioned, namely, to elevate the head as little as possible, 
to keep the respiratory functions of the nostrils free, and the mo- 
tions of the jaws and tongue at liberty, very seldom indeed will 
attempts to cough be made, or chance of choking occur : when it 
does, the animal’s head should be immediately set at liberty, and 
a short time allowed for the parts to recover themselves, before the 
operation be again commenced ,* and where any such appearance 
of irritation has once shewn itself, great additional caution is 
necessary in carrying on the administration. 
When accidents do occur, and through mistake or mismanage- 
ment a quantity of any foreign matter finds its way into the air- 
passages, the subsequent treatment advisable will vary consider- 
ably, according to the symptoms which manifest themselves. A 
good deal of what might have been said on this point has already 
been anticipated by the cases reported at the commencement of 
the present paper ; and I shall make a few more remarks on it in 
going over the different pathological conditions which may result 
from such a cause. 
The first result to be spoken of as likely to arise from a portion 
of foreign matter being carried into the lungs is asphyxia, more 
or less complete, according to the quantity which may get into the 
bronchial tubes on such an accident. It was this, I believe, that 
produced the sudden death of the two-year old quey at K , 
mentioned in Case II ; and also that of the calf that died the first 
of the five at S , in Case IV. And in conversation with some 
of the more intelligent of the farmers, I have had a number of 
similar cases mentioned to me, in which the animals shewed evi- 
dent symptoms of choking while getting medicine, and almost in- 
stantly dropped down and died. It is evident that in all such, there 
must have been an entire exclusion of the air from the lungs, and 
death produced as in drowning, hanging, & c., in consequence of 
the non-decarbonization of the blood. A result so speedily fatal 
as this is only likely to occur in cases previously weakened by 
disease, especially of a typhoid or putrid nature, in which the 
