.6o6 ACCIDENTS INCIDENTAL TO PARTURITION. 



from which the uterus had been remov'ed, and which gave an abundance 

 of milk for two years afterwards. 



Operation. — Various modes of operating have been practised and recom- 

 mended. With the larger animals, the hind-limbs should be secured — 

 especially with the Mare — or the animals may be thrown down, or fixed in 

 a travis if there is one convenient. 



Chloroform, chloral, or morphia may be administered to the animals 

 about to be operated upon. It is also a good plan to tie the uterus up in 

 a large cloth, so that it may be easier moved about by the operator or his 

 assistants, and render the operation cleaner and less repulsive-looking. 



The oldest, and perhaps most popular, method is the ligature in mass. 

 A piece of strong whipcord, well waxed and made into a running loop, is 

 passed over the tumor as near to the vulva as possible, but without in- 

 cluding the meatus urinarius. When evenly placed around the pedicle, 

 it is then gradually, but firmly, tightened by pulling at each end so as 

 completely to intercept the circulation in the mass. This done, the cord 

 is tied in a knot. 



Though this method has been much employed, and with a fair amount 

 of success, yet it has been condemned by some good authorities, on the 

 plea that it is (fengerous to tie such a voluminous mass ; as all the parts 

 cannot be sufficiently and equally compressed to become mortified at the 

 same time. Those parts which have not been firmly bound still retain a 

 certain amount of circulation, become inflamed, and occasion violent 

 pain. 



Rainard therefore recommends tht double ligature. A long sacking or 

 saddlers' large needle is armed with a somewhat long double piece of 

 whipcord. This is passed through the middle of the pedicle of the tu- 

 mor, from below to above, and the needle cut away from the cord. The 

 pedicle is thus perforated by two pieces of cord ; one of these is very firm- 

 ly tied round the right half of the pedicle, the other round the left, so as 

 to include the whole in two separate ligatures. 



Claverie {Journal des Vdt. du Midi, i860, p. 535) reports a serious 

 haemorrhage by this double ligature, after removal of the uterus, which 

 necessitated the application of a ligature in mass above the others, as well 

 as the application of the actual cautery to the cut surface. It is possible 

 that the needle wounded some large vessel, which, of course, would not 

 be included in either of the ligatures. 



The uterus of the Cow has been successfully deprived of its circulation 

 by means of clams about an inch thick and ten inches long. 



They were applied close to the vulva, and the two ends fastened to- 

 gether by twine. 



Saint-Cyr alludes to a successful case of amputation of the uterus in a 

 woman, by means of caustic clams, or rather a clamp ; the operator being 

 M. Valette of Lyons ; and he believes that the same procedure might be 

 advantageously adopted by veterinary surgeons. He recommends the 

 long curved clams used for hernia, and suggests that the groove be filled 

 either with chloride of zinc, or with tallow powdered over with corrosive 

 sublimate. 



By whatever procedure the pedicle of the tumor is rigidly compressed, 

 the uterus has afterwards to be excised. Some veterinarians are of opin- 

 ion that it is better to wait until it is completely mortified, or even until 

 it sloughs away spontaneously ; and they allege, in justification of this 



