CATTLE PATHOLOGY. 
59 
sistant, who was to press upon the foreign body while the arm of 
the surgeon was in the paunch. Among other things drawn out 
of the paunch was a pocket-handkerchief, which had preserved its 
colour, hut was torn by the slightest touch. 
The assistant, by means of the sound, favoured the approach of 
the oesophagean orifice towards the hand of the operator, by push¬ 
ing the paunch backwards. The arm of the surgeon was intro¬ 
duced into the paunch; it reached the oesophagean orifice and it 
touched one of the fingers of the glove. He pinched it between 
the fore-finger and the thumb, but having only a feeble hold of 
the foreign body, which was wet and slippery, he could not fairly 
grasp it; for although he used all the strength which in such a 
situation he could apply, it slipped from him every instant. He 
then tried to introduce his finger in the oesophagean orifice, but it 
was so spasmodically closed that he could not efiect his purpose. 
At last he armed himself with a small pair of pincers, and seizing 
the finger of the glove, which before he had only been able to do 
little more than touch, he drew it gently on, turning his hand, 
and humouring its passage, until he completely extracted it from 
the vice in which it was held. The moisture of the stomach had 
caused it to swell to a degree that would scarcely be credited, and 
it was this circumstance which opposed its passage. 
A restricted diet, consisting of mucilaginous drinks, and atten¬ 
tion to the cleanliness of the wound, which was dressed with tur¬ 
pentine ointment maintained in its place by an adhesive plaister, 
soon closed the wound in the flank. On the 10th day the cow 
was permitted to eat a little dry food; and on the 22d day she 
was dismissed from treatment. She was with calf at the time the 
accident happened, and she went her full time, and brought a fine 
calf without any unusual difficulty.” 
The presence of a foreign body in the cervical portion of the 
nesophagus may be readily detected; but who will confidently pro¬ 
nounce that this accident has occurred in the thoracic or floating 
portion of the organ ? Many cattle are lost in consequence of ob¬ 
struction here, and they perish because no one suspects the ex¬ 
istence of the evil. A veterinary surgeon, however, well versed 
in the diseases of cattle, ought to be able to recognize it without 
the slightest difficulty. The sudden loss of appetite—the cessa¬ 
tion of rumination, connected with a peculiar and distressing anx¬ 
iety of countenance and manner—the open mouth, filled with ropy 
saliva—the frequent but fruitless eflbrts to vomit—the paunch of 
the ruminant and the belly of the horse distended with gas ; these 
arc symptoms that can scarcely be mistaken. If, however, there 
were doubts about the matter, there are experiments which will 
determine the matter. If a little warm water is ])ourcil into the 
