136 
REPORTS OF CASES. 
Should the wound not do well, and ulceration of the articu¬ 
lating surfaces become evident, inject daily with the corrosive 
sublimate solution, two to the thousand, and apply blisters over 
the whole joint. I have found the application of the actual 
cautery to be very beneficial in cases which seemed very in- 
*- tractable. 
After the wound has closed, keep the animal quiet for at least 
two weeks, and then commence to give him exercise on the 
halter, gradually increasing it. Do not allow him to be put to 
work under a month. 
(ESOPHAGOTOMY. 
By G. W. Butler, V.S. 
On the night of August 24th, ’87, I was called to see a cow 
that was choking from an apple being lodged in the lower third 
of the cervical portion of the oesophagus. After fruitless efforts 
to dislodge the obstruction by manipulation, the use of oil, etc., 
I resorted to the use of the probang, which also proved a fail¬ 
ure—due, I think, to rupture of some of the muscular fibres of 
the oesophagus having taken place. 
The next morning, after repeating my efforts to dislodge the 
apple, with a similar result, I concluded to perform oesophago- 
tomy, which I did in the following manner : 
After securing the cow’s head to a fence post, I removed the 
hair over the obstruction, and with a scalpel made a clean incision 
through the skin and oesophagus, about three inches in length. 
After removing the apple I washed the parts thoroughly with a 
solution of corrosive sublimate (about 1 to 1,000), and with a 
tenaculum my assistant drew out the oesophagus far enough to 
enable me to fasten its cut edges by means of an uninterrupted 
suture, using silk thread for the purpose. The skin was then 
brought together in the same manner and a pledget of tow placed 
over the wound, being soaked in the above solution and held in’ 
position by a bandage around the neck. 
The cow was fed nothing but soft food, and there was no 
suppuration after the operation until about ten days or two weeks, 
when the thread with which the oesophagus had been fastened 
