114 OVARIOTOMY IN THE BITCH 



and subcutaneous tissues ; without removing the knife 

 from the wound, elevate the handle and with a quick thrust 

 make a stab wound extending through the external and in- 

 ternal oblique muscles and peritoneum at a single cut. The 

 operator can determine when the peritoneal cavity has been 

 entered by the disappearance of resistance. 



Introduce an index finger into the peritoneal cavity, and 

 as soon as this has been entered, follow directly along the 

 peritoneum upward and backward toward the angle of the 

 ilium where the uterine cornua lie covered over by the 

 broad ligament. The internal generative organs of the 

 bitch are unique among domestic animals. The uterus, 

 U, Fig. 46, is small and physiologically unimport- 

 ant, the cornua, RUC and I,UC, are ample in size and con- 

 stitute physiologically the uterus. The distance from the 

 cornual extremity, I^UC, to the ovary, O, which is occu- 

 pied by the Fallopian tube, is very brief so that the cornu 

 and ovary are well nigh in contact. The ovary, O, O, is 

 very small, smooth and completely hidden in the pavilion 

 which here constitutes a sac having a very small longitudi- 

 nal opening of 2 to 5 mm. The most remarkable feature of 

 the apparatus from a surgical standpoint is the great de- 

 velopment of the broad ligament which is broader than the 

 distance from the lumbar region to the abdominal floor, 

 while the uterus and uterine cornua are stretched between 

 the vagina, V, and the ovary, O, so that they are suspended 

 in the sub-lumbar region, resulting in a double fold of the 

 broad ligament hanging down like a curtain between the 

 parietal peritoneum and the uterus and cornua on either 

 side. The broad ligament of the bitch is consequently sus- 

 pended at one end from the sub-lumbar region, at the 

 other from the uterus, so that, instead of being sus- 

 pended by the ligament, the relation is reversed and the 

 ligament is suspended from the uterus, or rather uterine 

 cornu. 



