16 
OSSIFICATION OF THE CARTILAGES OF THE 
LARYNX.—FALSE PRESENTATION OF TWIN 
CALVES. 
By G. J. Austin, M.R.C.V.S., Newmarket, Auckland, 
New Zealand. 
When practising in London I occasionally met with cases 
of ossific deposits in, or partial ossification of, the cartilages of 
the larynx. One instance I well remember, in which the 
animal could not breathe unless the tracheotomy tube were 
allowed to remain in. By accident the tube came out one 
night, and the animal was found dead in the morning. The 
post-mortem examination show r ed that a deposit of bony 
matter had taken place, leaving only sufficient room for the 
handle of a scalpel to be passed from the larynx into the 
trachea. 
The other day I examined a mare, three years old, with a 
fistulous opening running under the parotid duct, and here 
it v r as evident that ossification to some extent had also taken 
place. She being very restive, I was obliged to cast her, and 
upon laying open the sinus so as to admit my fingers I found 
the thyroid cartilage to be ossified, and a large, rough, pro¬ 
jecting tumour growing therefrom. This did not seem to 
interfere with her respiration when she was quiet or even 
walking, as the calibre of the larynx was not diminished. 
Having freely laid open the sinus and dressed it, I released 
the mare. I have no doubt the parts will soon heal, and as 
the animal is required only for slow, draught work, she will 
not be much affected by the ossification. This mare was 
attacked with strangles some months before, and being un¬ 
broken, with other young horses, w as left to take her chance. 
1 believe that most of these deposits and tumours, as related 
in the pages of your Journal for February and, I think, March, 
have their origin in strangles, or follow 7 parotiditis and abscess 
accompanying severe cases of catarrh. 
I may be permitted to mention a case of parturition, 
showing in what aw 7 kw 7 ard positions one sometimes find 
calves are placed. 
The cow was a wild brute, the property of Mr. Raighten, 
farmer. She had been in the field a day and a night, with 
the head and fore legs apparently of a calf protruding from 
the vagina. The calf was dead. After making the cow fast, 
