DISEASES OF THE URINARY ORGANS. 165 



cavity of the abdomen. Then dullness increases; the animal lies down 

 most of his time; he becomes stupid and sometimes drowsy, with red- 

 dish brown congestion of the lining membrane of the eyelids; pressure 

 on the abdomen causes pain, flinching, and perhaps groaning, and the 

 lowest part of the belly fluctuates more and more as the escaping urine 

 accumulates in greater and greater amount. If at this stage the oiled 

 hand is introduced into the rectum (last gut) the animal flinches when 

 pressure is made downward on the floor of the pelvis, and no round 

 distended bladder is felt. If the same examination is made prior to 

 the rupture the rounded, tense, elastic bladder is felt extending for- 

 ward into the abdomen containing one or two gallons of liquid. There 

 may be uneasy shifting of the hind liinbs and twisting of the tail, also 

 frequent lying down and rising, but these symptoms are exceptional. 



When the obstruction is low down between the thighs (at the S- 

 sliaped flexure), the line of the pulsating urethra from the anus down- 

 ward may be felt distended with liquid, and though it is seldom easy 

 to distinguish the exact seat of the stone by the hard swelling of the 

 urethra, yet there is usually tenderness at the point of obstruction, and 

 from this it may be accurately located. 



The treatment of stone in the bladder or urethra consists in the 

 removal of the stone by incision and the use of forceps. (Plate xi, Fig. 4.) 

 When the stone has been arrested at the S-shaped flexure just above 

 the scrotum, the patient being lean, the thickened tender part of the 

 penis may be seized between the fingers and thumb of the left hand, 

 while the calculus is exposed by a free incision with the knife held in 

 the right. If there is no other obstruction between this point and the 

 bladder, and if the latter has not yet ruptured, a flow of urine should 

 take place from the opening. If there is no escape of liquid a catheter 

 or sound, one-fourth of an inch in diameter, must be passed up through 

 the canal (urethra) until it is arrested by the next stone, on which a 

 similar incision should then be made to e fleet its extraction. In case 

 the stone has been arrested in the portion of the urethra which is in 

 front of the arch of the hip bone and inside the pelvis, it can only be 

 reached by making an opening into the urethra beneath the anus and 

 over the arch of the hip bone, and from this orifice exploring the urethra 

 with fine forceps to the neck of the bladder or until the stone has been 

 reached and extracted. The operation requires a very accurate knowl- 

 edge of the parts, owing to the small size of the canal (urethra) to be 

 opened and the great thickness of erectile tissue to be cut through, 

 while the free flow of blood is blinding to the operator. A staff should 

 always be passed up through the urethra from the lower wound if such 

 has been made, or, in ease of its absence, through the whole length of 

 the penis, that organ having been drawn out of its sheath until the 

 S shaped curve has been effaced and the course of the canal rendered 

 straight. Upon the end of this staff the incision can be made with 

 far more confidence and certainty. The oj>eration can only be under- 



