156 



ELEMENTARY OPEEATIONS. 



Fig. 199.— T Suture. 



Pia. 200.— X Suture. 



suture, in which the coaptation of the borders of the wound is 

 regular and exact. It is principally applicable when the borders 

 of the wound have a tendency to overlap each other. 



10. T Suture (Fig. 199). — This is the peculiar stitch used to 

 bring together the borders of a T or crucial incision. A thread is 

 used with a needle at each end, each of which is passed through 

 from without inward, in one of the angles of the T, and brought 

 from within outward beyond the transverse incision of the T when 

 being unthreaded and laid aside. The suture is completed by 

 tying the two ends of the thread together. 



The same suture could be made with a single needle. 



The same procedure is required for the crucial incisions. 



11th. X Suture (Fig. 200). — This suture, which is recommend- 

 ed after spaying sows, is made by taking a stitch through both 

 edges at once, and carrying the thread obliquely across the wound, 

 starting the second stitch on the same border of the wound as the 

 first, and finishing in the same manner ; the thread is then again 

 passed across the wound, and the ends tied together. 



12th. Metallic Sutures. — These do not differ from the sutures 

 which we have considered, excepting that metals are used instead 

 of thread or silk. They are applied like the others, and secured in 

 the same manner, by knots or by twisting their ends together. 



The period for the removal of sutures depends upon many 

 circumstances, and varies according to the nature of the tissues 

 involved, their thickness, and the species of the animals operated 

 on. In horses and in dogs, suppuration occurs more rapidly than 

 in ruminants or svnne, and on that account the sutures cannot be 

 allowed to remain as long, without giving rise to the formation of 

 pus. Moreover, in regions where cellular tissues and blood vessels 

 are abundant, the pus is usually formed more rapidly than in those 



