THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 3G9 



become distended with gas, and according to the owner's account, 

 was about the size of his two fists. The animal, probably being 

 in pain, got down and rolled on the injured side, and thus burst 

 the gut. After sewing up the wounded intestine, it was cleansed 

 with warm water, and attempts were made to return it within the 

 abdomen, but to no purpose. We then cast the patient, and, by 

 means of a bundle of straw on each side, propped him on his 

 back : the bowel did not return so easily as we had expected, for 

 it was found necessary to dilate the stricture by means of a but- 

 ton-pointed bistoury. The several layers of abdominal muscles 

 were then sutured with as much nicety as the nature of the 

 wound admitted; and lastly the integuments were brought to- 

 gether by interrupted suture. This case terminated unfavor- 

 ably, for the animal died on the sixth day from peritonitis. It 

 may be well to observe that the accident happened on a very 

 cold day, in the depth of winter ; and the bowel being so long 

 exposed to the depressing influence of cold, probably led to the 

 fatal result ; for it is well known that operations of this kind often 

 prove successful. It may be interesting to the reader to know 

 that wounds of the intestines heal as readily as those of other 

 parts, as the following cases will show : — 



" An incision one inch and a half in length was made in the 

 bowels of a dog ; the wound of the integuments was closed by 

 suture ; the animal was scarcely affected by the operation, took 

 food as usual, and had natural evacuations. At the end of a 

 fortnight, when perfectly recovered, he was killed for the purpose 

 of examining the bowel, when the wound appeared to be com- 

 pletely healed. 



" In the eighteenth volume of the Philosojihical Transactions 

 a similar experiment is related by Mr. W. Cooper : ' An opening 

 was made in the abdomen of a dog ; a large wound was made in 

 the intestines, and the wound in the abdomen was stitched up, 

 &c. ; the dog recovered without any bad symptoms, and became 

 perfectly well in a few days after.' It should be observed that 

 the bowel does not appear to have been stitched up when re- 

 turned into the belly. The following experiment by Mr. Travers 

 is still more remarkable : ' A ligature of thin packthread was 

 firmly tied round the first intestine — duodenum — of a dog, so 



