404 OPERATIONS ON THE DIGESTIVE APPARATUS. 



the hand working in the rectum, and also by the facility with 

 which the fingers of that hand can be introduced into the now 

 liberated superior ring. 



Anesthetics have been recommended as powerful adjuncts in 

 the apphcation of the taxis, in this class of cases. Bouley 

 recommended their use, and Bagge, a Russian veterinarian, 

 agrees with Bouley, in advising their administration. His pro- 

 ceeding is thus described: The rectum being emptied, a solution 

 of two to four grammes of chloral and sixty or seventy centi- 

 grammes of acetate of morphia are thrown into it, while at the 

 same time compresses of chloroform are laid on the diseased side 

 of the inguinal region. In the course oi ten minutes there is 

 such a relaxation of all the tissues that the reduction by rectal 

 taxis is quite easy. The spermatic cords are then surrounded by 

 rolls of bandages moderately tight, in order to prevent the return 

 of the hernia. These bandages are left on for eight or ten hours. 

 The danger of strangulation upon the testicular cords is an im- 

 portant objection to the adoption of this process. Severe appli- 

 cations of douches of cold water applied for one or two hours 

 previous to the taxis have been successfully employed by Steff 

 and Lacassin. 



A process known as that of Patey, from its discoverer, con- 

 sists in the injection of oil of belladonna into the hernial sac, the 

 action of the oil, it is claimed, producing the dilation of the 

 pseudo-sphincter, which prevents the reduction. It causes a cer- 

 tain flaccidity of the parts, renders the taxis much easier, and con ■ 

 siderably facilitates the reduction. 



2d. The Direct Taxis. — This procedure is of too dangerous a 

 character to maintain a place in the domain of veterinary surgery, 

 except under very exceptional conditions. It consists in apjDly- 

 ing the manipulations of the taxis directly upon the intestine, 

 previously exposed by the dissection of the testicular enveloj)es. 

 These manipulations, which are dangerous when the intestine is 

 distended by gases or fluids, may, however, be rendered easier by 

 relieving the intestinal loop, through the use of a fine needle- 

 trocar or aspirator, of the cause of its abnormal dilatation. 



The method of Renault, mentioned by Zundel, is also a form 

 of direct taxis which, though it may be employed in cattle, involves 

 a subsequent fatal peritonitis in the horse. The operation con- 

 sists in the opening of the flank and the performance of the re- 



