CALCULI IN THE BOWELS. 509 
Whenever inflammation of the bowels is attended with obstinate con- 
stipation, the walls of the abdomen should be carefully examined, and 
especially the inguinal canal, scrotum, and navel, at which points in most 
cases the hernia makes its appearance. A swelling at any other part may, 
however, contain a knuckle of intestine, which has found its way through 
the abdominal parietes in consequence of a natural opening existing there, 
or of one having been made by some accidental puncture with a spike of 
wood or iron. The swelling is generally round, or nearly so, and gives a 
drum-like sound on being tapped with the fingers. It feels hard to the 
touch in consequence of the contents being constricted, but it gives no 
sensation of solidity, and may be generally detected by these signs. 
None but an educated hand can, however, be relied on to distinguish a 
ventral hernia from any other tumour. When it occurs at the scrotum 
or navel the case is clear enough. 
CALCULI IN THE BOWELS. 
A STOPPAGE IN THE BOWELS sometimes obstinately persists, in spite of 
all kinds of remedies, and, death taking place, it is found on examination 
that a large calculus has blocked up the area of the canal. Sometimes 
one of these calculi is found in the stomach, but this is extremely rare. 
On making a section they are found to consist of concentric layers of 
bran, chaff, and other hard particles of the food, mixed generally with 
some small proportion of earthy matter, and arranged around some foreign 
body, such as a piece of stone from the corn, or the head of a nail. 
Treatment is out of the question, as it is impossible to discover the 
calculus during life, and even if it could be ascertained to exist, no remedy 
is known for it. Those who are curious about the composition of 
these calculi, will be pleased with the following letter by Mr. Buckland, 
surgeon to the Ist Life Guards, in reply to an inquiry made in The Meld 
as to the composition of a calculus found in a horse belonging to a 
sorrespondent :— 
“Mr. C. Pemberton Carter having, in his interesting letter, requested 
me to throw some light upon this subject, I have great pleasure in giving 
what little information I am able to afford, with apologies for delay, as 
Aldershot camp is by no means a favourable spot for scientific investi- 
gations or literary pursuits. As regards the actual composition of calculi 
such as he has sent, we learn from the catalogue of the museum of the 
Royal College of Surgeons that they are composed for the most part of 
the phosphate of magnesia and ammonia, with small quantities of phos- 
phate of lime. They also contain an animal and extractive matter, to 
which the brown colour of the calculus is owing. They also contain 
muriates of soda, and various alkaline salts derived from the intestinal 
juices. The animal matter resembles that of all other concretions, and 
separates in concentric laminze when the calculus is dissolved in an acid. 
In more impure varieties, grains of sand, portions of hay, straw, &c., are 
frequently found imbedded in the calculus, and there is one specimen in 
the museum which contains an entire layer of vegetable hairs, Mr. 
Carter remarks that ‘his impression is that the caleulus is made up of 
bran’ (chemically speaking). He is not far wrong, for we read in the 
College catalogue, ‘ Most authorities agree that these calculi are formed 
from phosphate of magnesia, contained in wheat, oats, hay, &c., and this 
opinion derives confirmation from the circumstance that they occur most 
