114 WOUNDS AND BKUISES. 



the walls and contents of the cavity are often much altered 

 in these cases, and unless a guide is obtained in this way, either the 

 diaphragm or the lung might be accidentally wounded. Large 

 drainage tubes should be inserted at the wound and the counter- 

 opening if one has been made " (Erichsen). As the treatment of 

 a case of empyema is similar to that of an abscess (p. 77), we may 

 syringe out the pleural sac with a solution of hydrogen peroxide 

 in water (1 to 10) if necessary. 



Bleeding after Castration. 



Owing to weakness of the "Walls of the blood-vessels, unusual size 

 of the artery, unskilful manipulation, or other causes ; serious bleed- 

 ing may occur after castration. It may be stopped by getting hold 

 of the end of the severed cord, and ligaturing the artery, or again 

 dividing the cord, higher up, with the ecraseur. The treatment for 

 the arrest of bleeding, recommended on pages 71 and 72, should 

 be adopted here. Some practitioners recommend that an enema or 

 two of water, as cold as possible, should be given ; and others, that 

 a lump of ice should be placed within the scrotum. Fleming advises 

 the application of a folded horse-rug, saturated with cold water, 

 across the loins for a few minutes. I have found the best results to 

 be obtained by casting the animal, putting him on his back, re- 

 moving the blood from the cavity in the scrotum with a sponge, 

 securing the bleeding ends of the arteries with an artery torsion 

 forceps, and twisting them, or even by seizing the cut ends of the 

 arteries with the fingers, and keeping them firmly compressed for 

 a few minutes, after which I have generally found the bleeding to 

 have ceased. 



Peritonitis 



is inflammation of the peritoneum, which is the smooth and glisten- 

 ing membrane that lines the walls of the abdomen and covers the 

 stomach, liver, spleen, intestines, and other abdominal organs. It 

 descends, at each side, through the inguinal canal, lines the scrotum 

 and covers the testicles. The peritoneum thus forms a closed cavity 

 or sac. 



NATURE. — ^As the peritoneum is a serous membrane, inflammation in it is 

 followed by a more or less copious secretion of watei'j fluid (serum), with the 

 usual symptoms of redness, suppuration, and the formation of adhesions. 

 The liability to and danger of peritonitis is directly proportionate to the 

 contamination of the part. " The experience of the operation of ovariotomy 

 bhows us that the peritoneal cavity may be opened and freely exposed to the 

 air without any p:reat risk of the occurrence of septic peritonitis, provided 

 that it be thoroughly cleaned and no decomposable matter be left within it. 

 The subject has furthrr been experimentally investigated in animals by 

 Wegner, and the results obtained by him tend to show that, if only a portion 



