616 URINARY CALCULI. 



and os pubis ; a fissure 2 inches long, in the umbilical region, through 

 which both the open meatus urinarius and the urachus opened ; 

 faeces were discharged by the latter ; a canal, the size of a goose-quill, 

 existing between the occluded rectum and the bladder, whence the 

 material made its way into the urachus. The latter also received 

 the ends of the ureters and spermatic ducts. Lancelot saw in calves 

 and goats swelling of the navel, which to the touch gave the 

 impression of an umbilical hernia. Several animals died because 

 the urine found no exit through the urethra, and as the umbilical 

 cord was also closed, the urine accumulated in its dilated end below 

 the skin of the umbilicus. Greve found pervious urachus in a filly. 

 The primary cause of disease is the obstacle to discharge of urine 

 through the urethra, and attention should, therefore, first be directed 

 to this point. When no obstruction can be detected, blistering the 

 navel will sometimes close the urachus ; Burmeister succeeded in 

 this way. Should it prove impossible to open the urethra, the urachus 

 may be further divided and the urine thus allowed to escape, a method 

 which does well enough in animals intended for early slaughter. 

 Herbet effected healing in five days by powdering the parts with 

 burnt alum ; March, in the case of a calf, by applying a ligature. 

 In foals disinfection followed by transcurrent firing of the orifice 

 may be successful. 



II.— URINARY CALCULI. 



Urinary calculi have only a surgical interest when occurring 

 in the urethra or urinary bladder. They result from materials 

 deposited through the urine accumulating around hard substances, 

 foreign bodies, clots of blood, masses of mucus, &c, which have 

 found their way into the urinary passages ; catarrh or inflammation 

 of the urinary passages, therefore, often gives the first impulse to 

 their formation. Calculi are also said to be due to an abnormally 

 high percentage of salts in the urine, produced by food and water 

 rich in lime and to a specific tendency (lithiasis). Of more 

 importance is the fact that retention and decomposition of the 

 urine are liable to cause an alkaline reaction and calculous deposit. 

 Such conditions are, therefore, to be provided against or removed 

 as soon as possible, and care taken to disinfect catheters, &c, before 

 use, and so prevent micro-organisms being carried into the bladder. 

 Sometimes deposits occur in the pelvis of the kidney, pass into the 

 bladder, there become enlarged, or being discharged with the urine 

 remain fixed in the urethra. This explains why the symptoms of 



