A CASE OP STRICTURE OF THE (ESOPHAGUS'. 633 
* * 5 • - ■ ' ■ : * L* * . . - .• „ • 
have, sir, to apologize for the hasty and crude manner in which 
these remarks have been put together; but not being aware 1 
should so soon have the honour to address you, I considered it 
my duty to offer them in their present form, rather than create a 
diappointment. 
A CASE OF STRICTURE OF THE CESOPHAGUS. 
To the Editors of “ The V eterinarianp 
Gentlemen, 
1 herewith transmit you an account of an operation, which, 
as it is rather of rare occurrence either in man or in the lower 
animals, may perhaps prove interesting to the readers of your 
valuable publication. 
J. P. Cheetham, Veterinary Surgeon, E.S. 
33, Union Place, Glasgow. 
On the 9th of August I was called to attend a bay mare, the 
property of an officer of the Fourth Dragoons. When I entered 
the loose box I found her discharging masticated food by the 
nose; and I observed on the nigh side of the neck, in the situa¬ 
tion of the oesophagus, a swelling the size of my arm, com¬ 
mencing' about six inches below the pharynx, and gradually in¬ 
creasing in size until it reached the sixth cervical vertebra, 
where it terminated abruptly. From the history of the case, it 
would appear that there had been a partial obstruction offered 
to the passage of the food ever since she had been purchased 
(a period of about nine months), which had been progressively 
increasing; and on several occasions, of late, the oesophagus 
had become so obstructed, that it was necessary, in order to remove 
the contents, to drench the animal with water to wash them 
down ; in other instances a probang was used. Some time in the 
last spring a blister was applied over the diseased part, and 
she was afterwards turned out to grass. 
While at grass, it was observed that the food, when it 
happened to lodge in the lower part of the dilatation, was 
frequently passed up ag'ain towards the mouth, and afterwards 
returned towards the stomach. She was taken from grass on 
the 6th of August, and on the following day was given a consi¬ 
derable allowance of corn, to ascertain if she had recovered 
from the disease. An accumulation of the food, as formerly, was 
the result. As the means formerly used had been tried without 
effect, I had her cast on her right side, and made an incision 
VOL. III. 4 Q 
