PLANTAK NEUROTOMY. 553 



structure, and when it is loosened, a fact easily recognized by 

 an apparent shrinking in its length, it is ready for the division. 

 At times we pass under it the blunt aneurism tenaculum, carry- 

 ing a thread with which to secure it, and when secured, passing 

 the pointed bistoury under it, we divide it with a single upward 

 stroke of the instrument. In other instances, instead of the ten- 

 aculum and thread, we use the neurotome, which, having a curved, 

 blunt end, enables us at once to isolate the nerve, and with a 

 simple motion of the sharp edge to divide it from below upward. 

 Upon making the section the lower end of the nerve is secured 

 with forceps, drawn out of the wound, separated from its adhe- 

 sions by scraping it with the bistoury, and when a portion about 

 an inch or an inch and a half in length has been dissected, and 

 the resection is completed, either with the neurotomy knife or the 

 bistoui-y, the wound is to be cleansed with antiseptic washes. 



The edges are in a very few instances secured by a stitch of 

 suture, but we often prefer a simple antiseptic dressing and a 

 bandage. 



There is, of com^se, no doubt that animals will often struggle 

 during the operation, and especially at the moment when the Uga- 

 ture is tightened upon the nerve, or when the nerve is divided, 

 but the pain in either case is so transient that while we appreciate 

 the value of anesthesia, we cannot recommend, in ordinary prac- 

 tice, general etherization or chloroformization. If it is necessary 

 to have recoiu'se, as some do, to the tourniquet, or of any other 

 means, to control a possible hemorrhage, a large experience in the 

 practice of this operation has failed to show us a single case 

 where such practice would have been of advantage. 



The various details of the operation are substantially the same, 

 both for the high and the low process. It must be borne in mind, 

 however, when operating below the fetlock, that the nerve is often 

 concealed by a little fibrous band, which a careless operator might 

 mistake for the Herve itself. 



There is probably no special attention required as supple- 

 mental to the operation. The wound heals more or less rapidly 

 by first or second intention, and, as a rule, after two or three 

 weeks there are no signs of the occurrence excepting a simple 

 linear cicatrix remaining. Of the accidents which may be en- 

 countered during the operation, hemorrhage is the most import- 

 ant. Generally this is referrible to an error on the part of the 



