126 SPRINGTIME SURGERY 



the ligation of the navel cord of the new-born. 

 They do not generally state their reasons there- 

 for. It was advised by Nocard for the preven- 

 tion of "white scours" in calves, though just why 

 it should prevent this dreaded disease is not clear. 

 It certainly can not prevent the entrance of in- 

 fection through the navel. We may limit infec- 

 tion to some extent by a ligature around a living 

 tissue, as when we ligate a hernial sac, but even 

 there our power is vague. In that case however 

 we apply the ligature to living, active tissues, 

 cutting off nutrition on one side of the ligature 

 and leaving it comparatively undisturbed on the 

 other side, where a protective wall against any 

 threatening infection is quickly established. In 

 the navel cord it is quite otherwise. The interrup- 

 tion of the placental circulation and establish- 

 ment of the pulmonary functions renders the um- 

 bilic stump a dead mass of tissue. The arterial 

 stumps and the urachus have retracted and are 

 no longer in the cord, while the vein or veins have 

 wholly ceased to function and are dead. The re- 

 maining umbilic tissues, the amniotic sheath of 

 the cord, the areolar tissue and Wharton's jelly 



