ON STRICTURE IN THE (ESOPHAGUS OF THE COW. 321 
portion of hay was placed before her, which she eagerly seized, 
masticated, and swallowed. I then stood watching her every 
motion for a considerable time, but could not perceive any un- 
usual movement, or any thing like a desire to vomit. More hay 
was given, which was also swallowed, but I did not wait long 
before I saw a mass of something moving very gently backwards 
and forwards in the oesophagus. This continued for about half a 
minute, when she protruded the point of her nose, relaxed the lower 
jaw, and a portion of the hay she had just masticated was 
vomited, seemingly with the greatest ease. These movements 
were continued until the whole had returned, after which the cow 
appeared as desirous as ever for a fresh supply. 
I was much puzzled, as every one may be certain that I should, for 
I had never seen vomiting induced in the cow before. I had heard of 
one or two solitary cases, but I doubted their truth. Here, how- 
ever, to all appearance, was positive evidence; and the next step 
in the matter was to know the cause. After weighing the 
matter in my mind, I thought perhaps that the whole pheno- 
menon, strange as it was, might possibly be induced by the 
lodgment of some foreign substance, or by the growth of a 
tumour at the back part of the mouth, or at the entrance of the 
pharynx, and that such substances giving rise to irritation in 
these parts vomiting was produced, or was the consequence of a 
kind of reflex action. It is well known that irritation, however 
slight, in these parts in the human being, will produce vomiting ; 
and, judging from the similarity of the parts in both, I con- 
cluded that if the effect is produced by such a cause in the one, 
possibly it may in the other. I accordingly procured a balling iron, 
and minutely examined the structures, but found every thing in 
a normal condition. I was therefore necessitated, as it were, to 
suppose that the cause lay in the paunch or the first stomach — • 
that, in short, a morbid excitement existed within this organ, 
whatever might be urged with respect to its want of sensibility. 
Medicine was given to act upon the bowels in the first, place, 
and, afterwards, to produce a sedative effect ; and upon visiting the 
beast a second time, the cowman informed me that the vomiting was 
less frequent, and that the gruel which he gave her was retained 
altogether. I considered this a sign of amendment, but it proved 
of very short duration ; for upon visiting her a third time, I found 
her worse than ever. Gruel and every thing she partook of was 
immediately returned, and she evidently laboured under great 
depression and feverish excitement. 
It now, for the first time, occurred to my mind that a stricture 
must exist in some distant part of the oesophagus. I lost no time, 
therefore, in procuring one of Monro’s flexible probangs, which 
