ABSTRACT
So far a number of different opinions have been published in various publications on the possibilities of preventing diseases caused by foreign bodies--by removing them from the reticulum with the use of the magnetic probe. It was decided to test the practical value of the Eisenhut probe. Studies on 58 cows were carried out in the 1967-1973 period. Among the tested animals fere those suffering persistent rumen fistula and others which were being examined after rumenotomy. The animals under observation were divided into 5 groups. The object of the experiment was to test: a) the properties of the probe and possible dangers which might have resulted from its application. b) the usefulness and effectiveness of this rather expensive instrument. On the strength of experiments carried out it was found that the possibilities in moving the end of the probe, when introduced into reticulum, are very limited and, what more, a direct application of that into the reticulum cavity is difficult in "mass-probing", thus largely restricting the efficiency of the given instrument. The "retrieving crown" of the magnetic end has no essential part in the process of removing foreign bodies from the reticulum. Results obtained after having starved the animals for a period of time were even worse. When applying the probe to animals in good health, cases of rupturing the oesophagus and thus aspiring the alimentary content into the respiratory tract were recorded. When using the above-mentioned instrument, it was never possible to recover more than 50% of the foreign bodies introduced previously into the reticulum, which was mainly due to the difficulty in introducing the magnetic end into the reticulum.
