REVIEW— THE FLEXIBLE TUBE OR PROBANG. 297 
There is some degree of tact required in the operation, the 
want of which has probably, on many occasions, prevented its 
adoption. When the arm is first introduced into the rectum, the 
animal forces against it, in order to expel it ; the arm must re- 
main quiet, until these struggles have ceased, when the operator 
may proceed without difficulty. If the finger should not be 
sufficiently long to reach the neck of the bladder from the open- 
ing, the latter may be pushed towards the finger from the rectum. 
REVIEW. 
Quid sit pulchrum, quid turpe, quid utile, quid non. — H or. 
A Concise Treatise on the Use and Abuse of the Flexible Tube , or 
Probang , for the Relief of Choking , and other Mechanical 
Disorders of Cattle . By Mr. Robert Read, V.S., Crediton. 
Many cattle are lost by the retention of certain substances in 
the gullet, and by the extrication of gaseous fluids in the stomach. 
Great improvements have lately taken place in this division of 
bovine surgery. The farmer and the veterinary surgeon owe much 
to Mr. Read, of the Regent Circus, in London, for the invention 
of certain flexible tubes, by means of which gas may be extricated 
or medicine introduced. 
His namesake, Mr. Read, of Crediton, has likewise turned his 
attention to the maladies of the gullet and the stomach, and in 
the present work has taught us to remedy many of the diseases 
of the alimentary canal. Recourse to the probang, as soon as 
obstruction in the gullet is manifest, is strongly urged by our 
author; but at the same time he objects to any thing hasty or 
violent, for that has been the destruction of many a beast. “ If,” 
says Mr. Read, (i after the probang has reached the obstructing 
body in the throat it does not yield to fair force, desist — wait 
awhile — be not impatient : the being in a hurry has been the 
death of scores of beasts.” That we firmly believe. “ The longer 
the obstruction remains in the throat the softer it gets, and pro- 
bably on again pushing down the tube — half an hour or an hour 
intervening — it readily passes on into the rumen or stomach. If 
the obstruction is not soon overcome, let not the veterinarian give 
up the point. There are no animals that bear pressure on the 
vol. xvi. r r 
