102 CANINE AND FELINE SURGERY. 



the flat, or other instrument, inverted the margins of the bowel 

 and kept them so until the double turn was drawn sufficiently 

 tight to invert them permanently. When the gut had been 

 sutured all round, the two ends of the suture were tied with 

 a reef knot ; the bowel was carefully cleansed and the line of 

 resection inspected, to ensure that the edges were everywhere 

 inverted. The mesentery was drawn together with a continuous 

 suture. The gut was then bathed in hot antiseptic water and 

 returned, the abdominal wall being treated as already described 

 for an ordinary laparotomy. 



Thirty-two dogs were operated upon by this method, pieces 

 of from 4 to 13 inches being excised. Only two deaths occurred, 

 and one of these might reasonably be attributed to other causes 

 than the enterectomy. It must not, however, be forgotten that 

 these were comparatively healthy animals, none of them suffer- 

 ing at the time from disease of the intestine. 



The sequelae as reported were excellent, the animals after- 

 wards rapidly putting on flesh, but Mr Jordan does not appear 

 to have kept them under observation for more than about six 

 months to see whether or not stricture resulted. 



The after-treatment consisted in dieting with milk for the 

 first two days, the dogs being allowed as much as they would 

 drink ; for the next four days minced meat and boiled rice 

 were substituted, and they were then allowed to eat anything. 



Excision of the Spleen. — Occasionally large tumours are met 

 with in the spleen, necessitating, if the patient's life is to be 

 prolonged, complete or partial extirpation of that organ. 



Removal of the whole of the organ is a very serious opera- 

 tion, both at the time of operating and as regards its sequelae, 

 death from marasmus often following within twelve months. 



Mr Martyn Jordan, however, has shown ^ by an experimental 

 research into the effect of partial excision upon healthy dogs 

 that excellent results can be obtained. 



The chief untoward results to be looked for at the time of 



1 "The Lancet," 22nd January 1898, p. 208. 



