436 CONTRIBUTIONS TO VETERINARY PATHOLOGY. 
seldom so urgent as in spasm of the glottis, a»d the animal always 
makes violent attempts to vomit or eject the offending substance. 
In spasm of the glottis this symptom is always absent, unless the 
t wo should be associated ; conditions which might possibly exist in 
one case, but which I am not aware of having hitherto observed*. 
In choking, frothy mucus and saliva is always thrown in large 
quantities from the mouth of the animal. In spasm of the glottis 
this state is sometimes absent : it was absent in Case II of the 
present Contribution, but present in Case III, and also in Case 1 of 
Contribution VI. On the other hand, where fluids have gained 
admission into the trachea, the true cause will generally be dis- 
covered by inquiring of the parties owning the animal as to whether 
a drench has been given, and if the beast coughed at the time of 
giving it or not ; but, should any difficulty occur in this respect 
(and it does occasionally occur with grooms and carters), we must 
then have recourse to the physical state of the patient to solve the 
difficulty. 
In cases where fluids have gained admission into the trachea, a 
loud rale is present in the tube, and also throughout the chest or 
the whole of the bronchial tubes, and, I may add, of almost similar 
intensity; while in spasm of the glottis the rale is loud and sharp 
sounding in the region of the larynx, which sound will be found to 
diminish in intensity the further the ear is removed along the course 
of the tube towards its inferior extremity ; while in the bronchial 
tubes, and throughout the lungs, the sound differs but little, if any, 
from the normal state. Finally, spasm of the glottis is manifested 
as an effect of pre-existent disease, either of a local or general 
character, or both, but generally from disease ; and, where inquiry 
establishes the fact of such pre-existent disease, it will go so far in 
deciding the real nature of the case. 
Case IY is interesting in a general point of view ; and it is re- 
markable that the substances liberated from the ruptured stomach 
should not, by their contiguity with the peritoneum, have excited 
an intense inflammation within the membrane, or the snbstances 
themselves have not been more diffused throughout the abdominal 
cavity. The symptoms, as a whole, were peculiar : the leaning of 
the body against the wall, and of the head upon the edge of the 
manger; the look of anxiety and of deep suffering exhibited by the 
countenance; the crouching position, and the wandering round and 
round the box; are all symptoms remarkably characteristic of some 
fatal lesion internally. Such cases, of course, are beyond all human 
assistance ; nevertheless, they present questions of great interest 
to the veterinary pathologist. 
* I have never seen any violent cases of choking : what I have witnessed 
have been principally of a mild nature. 
