Acciaents and Operations. 4004 
NEEDLE INJURIES. 
The proverbial eccentricities of a travelling needle in the system or flesh 
have induced me to record the following cases :— 
On the 17th August, 1888, a small Yorkshire terrier dog, the property of 
Miss Bushell, of Eversfield Place, St. Leonards, was brought for my advice 
relative to a swelling in front of the throat, which, upon examination, I 
found to be inflamed, discoloured, and rapidly approaching suppuration. 
I prescribed medicinally for the patient, and ordered hot linseed meal 
poultices to the throat until the abscess became ripe for evacuation or 
rupture. On the night of the rgth it broke, and the poultices were continued 
antil the 21st, when, upon examining the sac of the abscess, I noticed at the 
bottom a small black point, with what appeared like a shred of lymph round 
it. The black point proved to be the head of a needle, and the white substance 
cotton. Iimmediately extracted the same with a pair of forceps. The needle 
was oxidised, and looked somewhat like a new gun barrel. The cotton, 
sixteen inches in length, and carried double, had maintained its integrity, 
but was of course discoloured. I continued to attend the patient until the 
28th, upon which date the wound had healed, and the dog was in good 
health and spirits. 
As to the period the needle had been present, that must be purely 
speculative. The dog had been in Miss Bushell’s possession three years ; 
previously he belonged to a dressmaker, and whether he had inadvertently 
swallowed the needle and cotton, or that it entered from the outside, as 
would almost appear from its position, or, as I jocularly remarked to the lady, 
he had been doing some internal economical work in the sewing line on his 
e@wn account, are matters of conjecture. However, the lady informed me the 
dog had never, since in her possession, eaten properly or looked well; had 
always difficulty in swallowing, associated with a peculiar movement of the 
jaw at times and a funny noise in the throat, whilst frequently he walked 
like an aged rheumatic or worn-out dog, and at other times all of a heap. 
After his recovery from the presence and extraction of the needle he became 
a changed animal, full of fun and frolic, and had a good appetite. I should 
mention that in the previous February this dog came in as a patient with 
sores of an eczematous type about the body, and that large patches of cuticle, 
similar to the detachment seen after blistering a horse’s sides, came away, 
leaving the exposed surface smooth and shining, and there was more or less 
cedema. The coat generally was loose, and came away if slightly pulled. 
At that date I was informed the dog was restless and feeding badly and 
capriciously, but no mention or suspicion of a needle was hinted at, and I 
do not affirm or suggest there was any connection between the two. 
Two years previously I had a similar case to the foregoing in a pug dog 
belonging to the Hon. Mrs. Boyd. In that instance the needle had passed 
between the branches of the lower jaw and transfixed the tongue. Its 
presence was discovered through a piece of black cotton, with which it was 
threaded, hanging down outside, but when taken hold of came from the | 
needle, and the latter had to be removed through the mouth. 
Departing from the canine subject for a moment, I may just observe that, 
in 1887, in a post-mortem examination of a fowl, I found a pin embedded in 
tissue external to the gizzard. It was black and slightly corroded. 
