THE LOW CHOKE.
For low choke more time than nature allows, when the impediment is situated near the mouth, may be occupied. No hurry nor any speedy remedy is required. Give oil, by the quarter of a pint, every hour. In the intermediate half hours give strong antispasmodics, using the horse probang after every dose of the latter. Sulphuric ether, two ounces; laudanum, two ounces; water, half a pint, will constitute the proper drench. Should the whole be returned, chloroform must be administered, by inhalation, till total insensibility results. Then, the head being extended, the probang should be introduced, and gentle but steady pressure made to force the obstruction onward. If success comes early, it is easily welcomed; but it is well not to expect success before the expiration of twenty minutes. When movement is felt, do not increase the force. Maintain a steady pressure, never relaxing and never augmenting the power exerted. Drive the substance slowly before you, but do not, by sudden energy, risk either the provocation of spasmodic action or a rupture of the œsophagus.
Before using the probang, always calculate the length of the whalebone, so as to judge when the end has nearly entered the stomach. It is always well, if possible, to avoid forcing the end of the probang through the cardiac opening, as the termination of the œsophagus is called. The muscular fibers here are strongly developed, and are formed to resist the passage of any substance out of the stomach. To be sure, the animal is under the influence of chloroform; but that powerful agent seems more particularly to exert its action upon the voluntary muscles; whereas, the cardiac orifice is guarded by white, involuntary muscular fiber.
A few days subsequent to the removal of the obstruction, no matter where it may have been situated, feed on soft-boiled food—not bran mashes; and in case of roots not being at hand, sustain the life with smoothly-made gruel. Let the animal be observed, when watered. Should the liquid be returned by the nostrils, injury to the lining membrane of the œsophagus is indicated; stricture may then be anticipated. Though it be not probable that any medicine will now be beneficial, nevertheless, as an experiment, administer, thrice daily, four ounces of water in which four grains of chloride of zinc have been dissolved.
Such is a true and brief history of the terrible mishaps that result from the mingled knowingness and ignorance which characterize the majority of grooms. A good or simple lad would be sadly out of place in a modern stable, though the writer should recommend the employment of such to become more general. The tricks and arts of professed grooms are all worthless or injurious. To such men, however, is the timid horse intrusted; and so much are our minds enslaved by custom, that the hint only of employing women in the stable will, no doubt, be received with general indignation. Let us, however, endeavor to view the matter without prejudice. Women work in the fields; women fill the situations of men as domestic servants; women carry heavy loads; women, on the continent, perform the duties of men; women commonly tend an animal of inferior intelligence, the cow; women are subordinate to men only where strength is concerned. In the stable no strength is required. Courage, even, is out of place there. Gentleness is the only quality imperative, and gentleness so habitual that it never will alarm timidity. This attribute seems to reside in the feminine mind; and, however opposed it may be to habit, the author cannot but lament the barrier which prevents the horse from becoming known to its natural attendant.
RUPTURE AND STRICTURE OF THE ŒSOPHAGUS.
The gullet or œsophagus of the horse is, perhaps, the most compact and delicate structure in a beautiful body. Its mucous lining membrane is thrown into minute folds, thereby announcing to the studious anatomist the degree of extension the tube was designed to endure. Its exterior is enveloped by a large mass of cellular tissue, by which means the independence of its motion is secured; it will permit of less violence than almost any other part. Small as its channel and delicate as its lining membrane are, the tube is amply large and strong enough for a creature which masticates long before it deglutates once, and which is by nature forbidden to regurgitate.
However, stable-men seek not to understand but love to master the quadruped intrusted to their charge. The butt-end of a carter's whip is a favorite resort with these people, whether serving some farmer or acting as grooms to some lord. When any mighty specific happens to stick in its passage to the stomach, the butt-end of the whip is employed to drive the obstinate charm onward. Should the obstruction be situated low down, the whip is neither small enough nor pliable enough to touch the offending matter. Should the choking mass be lodged high up, by compelling it beyond the reach of human hand, positive injury is done, and ultimate relief is rendered very problematical indeed; however, ignorance is not often to be deterred by difficulties. As the passage narrows, greater violence is resorted to; the men push and strive till at last the whip moves onward, and the stable-men congratulate each other upon "all being right at last."
When the whip seemed to yield, something more than the obstruction gave way; the walls of the canal were ruptured; an almost inevitable death then awaits the unfortunate animal. The food is rejected; drink is refused; the creature stands motionless, the picture of horror; it seems to comprehend and to await its approaching fate. The neck begins to swell; the swelling creeps on till it invests the entire body. Gas has found entrance into the cellular tissue, through the divided gullet. Death at last ensues, because the inflation impedes the vital functions, and, being corruptive, is incompatible with the preservation of living organism.