214 
A OASIS OF mtONCHOTOMY. 
the upper pastern bone fractured in eveiy direction, and at least 
into thirty pieces. The capsular ligaments of both pastern joints 
were dreadfully lacerated, and the nerve on the inside divided. 
That which makes the case so singular is, that the horse, at the 
time of the accident, was cantering at a very steady pace upon 
the high road. 
A CASE OF BRONCHOTOMY. 
By Mr . Hales, of Oswestry . 
Although the operation of bronchotomy in the horse has been, 
I believe, in several instances successfully performed, yet as cases 
requiring it are not common, and perhaps it is sometimes neg¬ 
lected in those to which it may be applicable, the detail of a case 
in which it was quite fortunate in its results may not be tmac- 
ceptable to The Veterinarian. 
Upon the 13th of February last, at noon, I was summoned in 
great haste to an inn in this town, to see a mare that the mes¬ 
senger said was very bad. Upon my arrival, I found her 
breathing with great difficulty and a wheezing noise ; there was 
a considerable swelling on each side the throat, extending from 
immediately below the ear to the situation of the thyroid gland. 
The history of the occurrence was, that about 20 minutes before 
she had got her head fast between the head of the stall and the 
wall (a board being off), and was set free with considerable dif¬ 
ficulty. Directly after she was liberated her throat began to 
swell, and her breathing to be affected, both of which continued 
rapidly to increase. After staying a few minutes, and finding 
the respiration rapidly getting worse, I determined upon return¬ 
ing home for instruments to open the trachea ; for, should the 
urgency of breathing go on increasing, there was little doubt that 
she would soon be suffocated. I was scarcely a quarter of an 
hour away ; but upon my return the mare was absolutely gasp¬ 
ing for breath, and foaming a;t the mouth in agony. The swellings 
were now as large as a twopenny loaf each, and extending lower 
down the neck ; that on the near side rather the largest. With¬ 
out further hesitation, I laid bare the trachea (twelve inches 
behind the lower jaw, so as to be clear of the swellings) nearly 
in front, but rather to the right side, and slit it up about an inch 
with a sharp-pointed scalpel; then, with the aid of a pair of dis¬ 
secting forceps, I made two semilunar incisions of the cartilages 
of the windpipe, large enough to leave a circular opening three 
quarters of an inch in diameter: a great gush of air issued through 
the wound,and the mare seemed much relieved. So intense was her 
