SALIVARY FISTULA. 



465 



plug to the orifice, while the heat started up reparative 

 inflammation beneath it, which was to effectually close the 

 opening by the time the roasted living flesh was cast ofF. 

 Did it always succeed ? No ! Then, did it never occur to 

 those who used it, that its application was painful, and 

 that the operation of sloughing was hkewise painful ? More- 

 over, the iron necessitated a destruction of ^ the immediate 

 part,' and any loss of substance in a duct is certain to be 

 followed by stricture. All ways, then, this boasted remedy 

 was bad. It was bad surgery to speculate with suffering, 

 nay, especially so, when success could only efface an evil by 

 the establishment of another and a worse injury ; and espe- 

 cially is it the worst of surgery, to repeat so faulty a process 

 an indefinite number of times. 



There are, likewise, other modes of pretended cure, all 

 equally barbarous, all derived from the same school. We 

 shall with indignation pass by each of these, to notice a 

 plan of proceeding adopted by Mr. Gowing, of Camden 

 Town. A firm, agglutinating hquid is formed, by dis- 

 solving gun cotton in sulphuric ether, which is called col- 

 lodiun. Upon applying this liquid to the surface of the 

 body, the vital warmth occasions the ether rapidly to 

 evaporate, leaving the cotton in an altered form, sticking 

 firmly to the part. 



Mr. Gowing first applied some mild caustic to the 

 wound, till the orifice presented the reddened appearance 

 he desired it should assume. He then placed above the 

 opening a bulky pledget, sufficiently large to thoroughly 

 close the wound, and sufliciently solid to resist the solvent 

 powers of the saliva. A piece of cork, cut to the required 

 shape, answers the purpose admirably. Over this, to bind 

 it to the part he wished it should close, he passed some 

 cotton thread, the ends of which he fixed to the hair of either 

 side, by a liberal allowance of the Uquid we before alluded 

 to. ' This he repeated several times, till the plug was held 

 firmly to the place by the cross bands of cotton. He 

 repaired this dressing from day to day as it was neces- 

 sary, having the horse's head tied up, and supporting the 

 animal entirely by fluids. After a few days had elapsed 

 the horse was allowed to lie down, and a short time subse- 

 quently the bandage was removed, when the orifice was effec- 

 ^ H h 



