17*2 THE OPERATION OF LITHOTOMY. 



this agent be given by the mouth, it will reach the 

 bladder in a state fit to act upon the calculus we wish 

 to remove. It will dissolve the calculus, or at all 

 events prevent its increase, the solid matter in a state 

 of solution being conveyed away with the urine. A 

 drachm of the acid may be mixed with every gallon of 

 water which the horse drinks. This process is not 

 satisfactory, but in certain cases, the owner may, rather 

 than submit to delay, prefer hazarding an operation. 

 That will settle the business more quickly, and, to 

 the horse, is not so dangerous as to the human sub- 

 ject. Nevertheless, before an operation is resorted 

 to, it is only prudent to regard it in conjunction with 

 the animal upon which it is to be performed ; and 

 the circumstances to be taken into consideration, with 

 regard to the performance of that operation, are the 

 age, and health, the value of the horse, and the size 

 of the stone. 



The operation being resolved on, the horse should 

 be thrown, and a whalebone staff, with a groove at the 

 end of it, passed up the penis ; until its point can be 

 felt about an inch and a half below the anus. The 

 staff being held firm by an assistant, the operator 

 makes an incision directly upon the groove, and into 

 the urethra, where it winds round the arch of the 

 ischium : into this he introduces a dilator (which is an 

 instrument that can be made to expand), and passing 

 it into the bladder, he causes its enlargement ; and 

 thus widens the mouth or neck of that organ, until it 

 will admit of the passage of the stone, the size of 

 which has already been ascertained through the rec- 

 tum. The forceps are then introduced into the blad- 



