70 



DISEASES OF THE DIGESTIVE APPARATUS 



cellular tissue no venous blood escapes. The injection is made and the 

 opening closed with collodion. As in the case in strangulated hernia, 

 or in the case of accumulation of the faeces in the rectum, due to faecal 

 stagnation^ or from the ulceration of abscesses of the rectum, we will 

 have to treat them as described above; but we may add to that the in- 

 jection of large quantities of soapy water several times daily, which can 

 be given with the apparatus illustrated in Fig. 29, and a dose of calomel 

 followed by castor or olive oil or glycerine injections into the rectum, or 

 suppositories in the form of glycerine, or a solution of glycerine and 

 water 1 to 10. 



The stenosis of the bowel that is caused by the impaction of foreign 

 bodies is best treated with laxatives and not with purgatives. A'ogel 

 and others advise in the case of sharp or pointed objects, to feed the 



Fig. 30. — Lambert. suture. 



animal on thin liquid foods, soups of peas and vegetables, but if we do 

 not succeed in getting rid of the foreign body and, if a positive diagnosis 

 has been made, it is best to perform laparo-enterotomy as soon as pos- 

 sible, and not wait until gangrene and peritonitis have set in. 



Laparo-enterotomy is performed in the following manner: the ani- 

 mal is anaesthetized and placed on its back, the lower part of the abdom- 

 inal wall shaved and washed with antiseptics. Make an incision, through 

 the linea alba, posterior to the umbilicus, back to the margin of the pubis 

 about 5 to 8 cm. long. First cut through the skin, then the muscles. 

 Before going into the abdominal cavity, all the hemorrhage must be 

 checked and the blood cleaned off, and then with the thumb and index 

 jfinger go into the abdominal cavity and, having located the portion of 

 the intestine wanted, pull it through the opening and hold the lips of the 

 wound together; an assistant can hold the edges of the wound together 

 and prevent the rest of the intestines from escaping, and also to prevent 

 possible infection from the escaping fluids, when the incision is made in 



