(ESOPHAGITIS IN THE HOUSE. 
703 
A very important symptom, which we now began to observe, 
was, that some of the food, after being swallowed, was returned 
through the nostrils, mixed with a little white-coloured mucus. 
The colic became less intense as night approached. 
The Diagnosis uncertain ; but, observing the extreme difficulty 
of swallowing, and the torture that was evidently expressed when 
either fluids or solid food reached the stomach — considering also 
the rejection of portions of the food after it had been swallowed — 
1 expressed an opinion that the stomach would be found slightly in- 
flamed, and, particularly, that it would be distended by a mass of 
solid or liquid food. 
Treatment . — Let the gargles, and the frictions, and the walk- 
ing and the warm clothing, be continued. Let a portion of emetic 
tartar be mingled with the injections, and let the inside of the 
thighs and the fore-arm be gently rubbed with a solution of the 
same. All fluids were now interdicted. 
The night would have passed with comparative quiet, had not 
the patient experienced some violent colicky pains, from having 
taken some gulps of the fluid which had been used as a gargle, 
and which some of the pupils had left in a vase at the door. 
24 th . — In the morning we observed, along the guttural sulcus of 
the fore part of the neck, an undulatory movement, which some 
had, at first, attributed to a venous pulse , but which was soon re- 
cognized as produced by the antiperistaltic contractions of the oeso- 
phagus. We were not permitted to doubt of the accuracy of this 
surmise, for, as soon as it terminated, the animal returned by the 
nose certain mucous secretions, more or less abundant, and some- 
times charged with fluids and portions of solid aliment, exhaling a 
strong acetous odour. When the patient was preparing to lie 
down, he no longer, as on the preceding days, threw himself on 
his back or on one side, but he sat on his haunches, stretched out 
his neck, after many unavailing attempts as well as he could, and 
frequently executed the decided process of deglutition, as some- 
thing existed in the pharynx or the oesophagus, which he vainly 
endeavoured to swallow. After this, and doubtless fatigued by his 
position, he suffered himself to slip down on his litter, and lay on 
one of his sides, his head always stretched out in front, and he 
uttering sharp and repeated cries whenever a convulsive contrac- 
tion forced him to bend his neck. 
His respiration was plaintive, and more frequent and jerking 
than on the preceding evening. The artery was distended, and 
the number of pulsations 74 — the pulse was hard and rebounding 
— the beatings of the heart were exceedingly strong — the con- 
junctiva loaded with a reddish-brown infiltration — the mouth ex- 
