124 Surgical Diseases and Surgery of the Dog 



the lung Js , insensible to wounds with little or no reaction, (2) 

 portions of lung may be destroyed by injections or by the galvano- 

 cautery without killing the animal. 



Gluck went further than this. He extirpated the whole of one 

 lung in six animals. The animals were chloroformed, and strict 

 antisepsis and careful arrest of hemorrhage observed. A bow- 

 shaped incision with the convexity towards the sternum was made 

 through the skin and pectoral muscles between the third and sixth 

 ribs, and the edges separated with a tenaculum. The broad in- 

 sertions of the serratus anticus major muscle were detached, and 

 portions, three to five inches in length, of the third, fourth, and 

 fifth ribs resected, external to the course of the internal mammary 

 artery. The intercostal muscles of the parts noted were also ex- 

 cised, and all bleeding carefully stopped. The intact pleura was 

 now seized with forceps and divided the entire length of the wound. 

 At the same moment the lung collapsed, and breathing became 

 accelerated. Then the entire left lung was ligated at the root 

 and removed en masse, or it was extirpated piecemeal. After 

 extirpation, the entire contents of the mediastinum were visible, in- 

 cluding trachea, esophagus, both vagi nerves, vena azygos, ductus 

 thoracicus and heart with great vessels. Most of the animals re- 

 covered, though this has not been the experience of experimenters 

 in this country. 



Schmid also resected portions of one lung in eight dogs, and 

 of these three recovered and five d,^ed. Four of the latter suc- 

 cumbed to empyema, in Schmid's opinion, owing to entrance of 

 septic matter from the divided bronchii. 



THORACENTESIS. 



This operation consists in removing pleural effusions by means 

 of trocar and canula, or preferably the aspirating syringe. In 

 cases of true pleurisy the necessity for its performance first occurs 

 from the tenth to the fifteenth day after the onset of the disease. 



It is best performed with the animal in a sitting or standing 

 posture. Pfeiffer directs that the dog be laid on the table, but 

 Moeller has seen an animal die within a few minutes from being 

 placed on its side.- The site of puncture should be disinfected and 

 the instrument rendered sterile. 



A fine trocar and canula, or preferably an aspirating needle 



