366 CONTRIBUTIONS TO COMPARATIVE PATHOLOGY. 
RUPTURE OF THE TRACHEA, AND EMPHYSEMA IN A MARE. 
On August the 5th, 1825, a cart mare was kicked about mid¬ 
way between the larynx and bronchial tubes with such violence 
as to rupture the trachea. The skin was not at all injured, or 
even the hair rased, the colt having no shoes on. The mare was 
suckling a foal, and pregnant also. She was working in the team 
immediately behind the colt, and he proving very refractory, 
kicked her with great violence. 
She shewed evident symptoms of uneasiness immediately after¬ 
wards, in consequence of which the proprietor had her taken out 
of the team and bled copiously. In the course of the day she 
increased in bulk very considerably, and, by the following morn¬ 
ing, was become of an enormous size. I then saw her, and pro¬ 
ceeded to examine the spot on which the blow had been received. 
I very readily discovered the rent in the windpipe—it felt as if 
two rings had been broken. She did not seem to be in much 
pain, but was dull and dispirited. The pulse about sixty, and 
not hard. The emphysematous swelling, for such it evidently 
was, pervaded the whole exterior of the body; extending from 
the tips of the ears to the base of the tail. The legs were very 
much increased in size, and, in fact, the cellular membrane con¬ 
necting the skin with the trunk was inflated almost as much as 
it possibly could have been. 
To bleed was impossible, and the quantity taken away on the 
preceding day had rendered farther venesection an object of very 
little importance. I gave calomel in a full dose, and, after¬ 
wards, an aloetic ball. I also applied a bandage round the neck, 
moderately tight, having first placed a compress exactly on the 
injured part; and I directed these to be kept constantly wet with 
an evaporating lotion. She was placed in an airy loose stable, 
warmly clothed (the skin feeling rather cool), and a good deal of 
friction was frequently used. Green meat was allowed her in a 
moderate quantity, and water whenever she chose to drink. The 
bowels were freely moved, after which the emphysema consider¬ 
ably decreased. In about a week adhesion between the skin 
and the injured part beneath took place to such an extent as to 
preclude the farther escape of air into the cellular texture. The 
bandage was consequently discontinued. Friction was still ap¬ 
plied to the skin, and she was walked out for an hour every day. 
Under this treatment she perfectly recovered, and, by the middle 
of September, she was able to work as usual. 
'llie Farrier and Naturalist, vol. ii, p. 285. 
