GUS.

Choking in cattle is of common occurrence, in consequence of turnips,
potatoes, carrots, or other hard substances, becoming lodged in the
oesophagus, or gullet.

These obstructions can sometimes be removed by careful manipulations
with the hand; but, where this can not be accomplished, the flexible
probang should be employed. This is a long India-rubber tube, with a
whalebone stillet running through it, so as to stiffen it when in use.
This instrument is passed down the animal's throat, and the offending
substance is thus pushed down into the stomach.

OPEN JOINTS.

Opening of the joint generally results from accidents, from puncturing
with sharp substances, from kicks, blows, etc. These injuries cause
considerable nervous irritation in the system, and sometimes cause
lock-jaw and death.

_Treatment._--Close up the wound as speedily as possible. The
firing-iron will sometimes answer the purpose very well. The author
depends more upon the application of collodion--as recommended in his
work upon "The Horse and His Diseases" for the same trouble--than upon
any other remedy. It requires care in its application, in order to make
it adhere firmly. Shoemakers'-wax, melted and applied, answers a very
good purpose.

PARTURITION.

In natural labor--as has been suggested in a former part of this
work--the aid of man is rarely required in bringing away the calf. But
it not infrequently happens that, from malformation or wrong
presentation, our assistance is required in order to deliver the animal.

The brute force, which has been far too often heretofore resorted to,
should no longer be tolerated, since the lives of many valuable animals
have been sacrificed by such treatment. Very often, by gentle
manipulation with the greased hand, the womb can be so dilated as to
afford a comparatively easy exit for the _foetus_.

If, however, the calf is presented wrong, it must be pushed back and
placed in its proper position, if possible. In natural labor, the
fore-legs, with the head lying between them, are presented; in which
position--unless deformity, either in the _pelvis_ of the cow, or in the
_foetus_, exists--the calf is passed with little difficulty, and
without assistance. It sometimes happens that the head of the foetus
is turned backward. When this happens, the attendant should at once
strip himself to the waist, bathe his arms, and hands with a little
sweet-oil, or lard, and introduce them into the _vagina_