REPORTS OF CASES. 
915 
A SWALLOWED PLACENTA CAUSE OF DEATH. 
By Francis Abele, V. S., Quincy, Mass. 
Cow was badly distended with tympanites. Had had same 
a week before. Another veterinarian had left tiocar in one and 
one-lialf hours, etc. Such was the history. At times she 
would vomit out great masses or sloppy food. I have seen sim¬ 
ilar symptoms, but never had chance to hold post-mortem. 
Read up and found that it was often due to tumor in the fourth 
stomach. Tympanites continued more or less for a month. 
Cow became emaciated, legs stocked up, appetite poor, back 
arched or rump appeared very sloping. Was allowed post¬ 
mortem. 
Fourth stomach was all right, had some sand in it. In the 
contents of first stomach found a mass of placenta wedged into 
the oesophageal canal. Now, the strange part was that the cow 
had calved before this owner bought her. He had owned her 
over a month, having bought her at cattle market. The mem¬ 
brane was thin, clear and transparent in many places. Much 
of it was thready like frayed-out linen cord. The mass was 
bigger than two fists and enclosed fully twice its amount of in- 
gesta worked into it. Had the real history been known I would 
have performed rumenotomy, but from symptoms never sus¬ 
pected the true nature of the trouble. 
A VERY STRANGE CASE. 
By John Minchin, V. S., Goshen, N. Y. 
On Feb. 7, I was called to see a very valuable horse at 5 
p. M. Found patient in a very comatose state—in a profuse 
sweat, as if water was poured on him by the pailful ; pulse 
hardly perceptible ; extremities cold, and breathing very sen- 
sorously, with frequent regurgitations, being insensible to all 
surroundings ; pupils much dilated, and excessive foaming at 
mouth. The horse was driven from home in the afternoon 
about five miles, well covered under shed for about one hour, 
when he started for home apparently all right. I was much 
puzzled on finding patient as described, for in all my practice I 
was never confronted with such a case. I concluded it was a 
case of poisoning, and administered some very powerful anti¬ 
dotes, and concluded I would have poor results. Tympanites 
was very bad, so I applied the trocar and canula with good re¬ 
sults. In a short time he commenced as if trying to vomit and 
gurgle. Of course, I did not omit enemas, and to my great and 
agreeable surprise, in about four hours there seemed to be quite 
