AMPUTATION OF THE TAIL 



391 



operator, after carefully adjusting the shears, snips it off at 

 one forceful stroke. To prevent resistance it is important 

 that the knife make a clean, unfaltering sweep through the 

 entire tail at the first attempt. 



It is not necessary to search for an intervertebral artic- 

 ulation through which to make the amputation: on the 

 contrary, section through a segment is more desirable, be- 

 cause the exfoliation of the end of the segment will be more 

 rapid than if the bisection had been made through an artic- 

 ulation. 



Fourth Step.— Haemostasis. — The tail is then pushed up- 



PiG. 196 — Amputation of the Tail by the Dovetail Method. (Bayer.) 



ward with one hand and the end thoroughly seared with the 

 hot iron. The searing is effected by simultaneously pressing 

 and rotating the iron against the stump until the soft tissues 

 surrounding the bone are burned into a perfectly smooth sur- 

 face. The stump may then be sprinkled with a little rosin, 

 which is melted into the scar with the hot iron. 



The tourniquet is cut off or untied and the patient kept 

 under surveillance ten to twenty minutes, to detect possible 

 bleeding from the middle coccygeal artery. 



THE DOVETAIL METHOD OF AMPUTATION.— 

 This method, while the most surgical one, is tedious and dif- 



