THE SPLEEN. 211 



vague and indefinite in character, and some of them directly con- 

 tradictory of each other. None, however, have yet been offered 

 which are entirely satisfactory in themselves, or which rest on suf- 

 ficiently reliable evidence. 



A very remarkable fact with regard to the spleen is that it' may 

 be entirely removed in many of the lower animals, without its loss 

 producing any serious permanent injury. This experiment has 

 been frequently performed by various observers, and we have our- 

 selves repeated it several times with similar results. The organ 

 may be easily removed, in the dog or the cat, by drawing it out of 

 the abdomen, through an opening in the median line, placing a few 

 ligatures upon the vessels of the gastro-splenic omentum, and then 

 dividing the vessels between the ligatures and the spleen. The 

 wound usually heals without difficulty'; and if the animal be killed 

 some weeks afterward, the only remaining trace of the operation 

 is an adhesion of the omentum to the inner surface of the abdomi- 

 nal parietes, at the situation of the original wound. 



The most constant and permanent effect of a removal of the 

 spleen is an unusual increase of the appetite. This symptom we 

 have observed in some instances to be excessively developed ; so 

 that the animal would at all times throw himself, with an unnatural 

 avidity, upon any kind of food offered him. We have seen a dog, 

 subjected to this operation, afterward feed without hesitation upon 

 the flesh of other dogs ; and even devour greedily the entrails, taken 

 warm from the abdomen of the recently killed animal. The food 

 taken in this unusual quantity is, however, perfectly well digested ; 

 and the animal will often gain very perceptibly in weight. In one 

 instance, a cat, in whom the unnatural appetite was marked though 

 not excessive, increased in weight from five to six pounds, in the 

 course of a little less than two months ; and at the same time the 

 fur became sleek and glossy, and there was a considerable improve- 

 ment in the general appearance of the animal. 



Another symptom, which usually follows removal of the spleen, 

 is an unnatural ferocity of disposition. The animal will frequently 

 attack others, of its own or a different species, without any appa- 

 rent cause, and without any regard to the difference of size, strength, 

 &c. This symptom is sometimes equally excessive with that of an 

 unnatural appetite ; while in other instances it shows itself only in 

 occasional outbursts of irritability and violence. 



Neither of the symptoms, however, which we have just de- 

 scribed, appears to exert any permanently injurious effect upon the 



