368 OPEEATIONS ON THE DIGESTIVE APPARATUS. 



on its free end, the better to act without slipping against the ob- 

 ject with which it is to come in contact. The probang of the 

 stomach pump forms an excellent instrument for that purpose. 



Dr. Peabody has constructed a simple implement of strong, 

 thick wire, twisted together and forming a rod of sufficient length, 

 protected by a tube of India rubber, and having one end formed 

 into a ring or loop, to serve as a handle, while at the other ex- 

 tremity a sponge of suitable size is secured and formed into a 

 bulb resembling that of the ordinary probang. Degives recom- 

 mends for use in cases of emergency an extemporized instrument, 

 formed of a whip handle or a branch of a tree, of sufficient 

 length, of the size of the little finger, with a bulb composed of a 

 ball of oakum covered with cloth. This "bulb is attached to the 

 end with strong twiue, of which a free end is left of equal length 

 with the instrument, in order to draw out the broken fragments 

 in case of fracture of the probang. 



Whatever form of probang may be used, it is always neces- 

 sary to associate with it a speculum to keep the mouth sufficiently 

 open and immobile. Those which are recommended and em- 



FlG. .365.— Brogniez's Gag. 



ployed in the exploration of the mouth are available for this pur- 

 pose. But as these are not always obtainable, some ingenious and 

 simple apparatus can be made at a moment's notice like that illus- 

 trated in Figure 365, which, or something equivalent, ought to be 

 mthin the scope of the inventive and constructive capacity of any 

 weU equipped surgeon. 



