REPORTS OF CASES. 
147 
and surrounding parts, was a quantity of hay, bran, etc. On re¬ 
moving this, and making the incisions larger and longer, what 
was my surprise to find a longitudinal rupture of the mus¬ 
cular coats of the oesophagus for a length of nearly seven 
inches, and of the mucous coat for about three and a half 
inches, the swelling being, mainly, nothing but the fluids 
drank by the animal passing out through this rupture and 
circulating through the connective tissue, etc., and the reason 
why the gruel, water, etc., drank this morning had returned 
through the nostrils was due to eating the hay previous to our 
arrival, it having passed out through the rupture, filling the 
space and then acting as a choke. One can imagine the bare 
possibility of a transverse rupture of the oesophagus through 
over extension, but not, so it seems to me, a longitudinal one ; 
yet, again, even if the colt had been struck or kicked by its 
playmate during the time it reared, is it not practically impos¬ 
sible to produce such an injury without at least cutting through 
the skin? 
If one is at a loss to account for the accident, or how it could 
possibly occur, is it not more puzzling why, with such a danger¬ 
ous trouble, it did not have a greater debilitating effect upon the 
animal; its danger, readily observable by pulse, respiration and 
temperature. 
I removed about twelve inches of the oesophagus and pho¬ 
tographed it, a print of which accompanies this description, and 
plainly shows the extent of the rupture.* 
Will the editor or any veterinarian kindly offer some com¬ 
ments or explanation of the accident, and greatly oblige the 
writer ? 
LATER.—Since writing up the case I have experimented 
some, and think the injury could be done by one horse grasping 
the mastoido-humeralis muscle with his teeth, just when a horse 
rearing in the air is about to come down, as horses at that point 
always turn their head, making the neck curve convexly to¬ 
wards their playfellow and the teeth might so catch the oesopha¬ 
gus in behind the muscle, so tearing muscle loose, etc. 
UTERINE FIBROMA. 
By W. H. Curtis, D.V.S., Marengo, Ill. 
I removed a fibroid tumor weighing two and a half pounds 
from the vagina of a cow, which had calved the same day, and 
she made a good recovery. 
* As the photograph was too indistinct to be reproduced, and as the correspondent's 
description is very clear, it is omitted. 
