The Abdomen 213 



animal. They are removed by partial or complete ablation of the 

 organ. 



Surgety of the Spleen 



It has long been known that the dog will survive complete re- 

 moval of this organ. Aristotle wrote: "The spleen is not an organ 

 which is indispensably necessary to the body." Among the earlier 

 writers Pliny and Clarke mention that spleenless dogs not only 

 live after operation but even seem to improve in condition. Barde- 

 leben recorded the recovery of three dogs from which the organ had 

 been removed. Vulpian performed complete extirpation and the 

 subject lived six and one-half years without inconvenience, and 

 Crips saw two dogs alive five months after the operation. In recent 

 years Picard and Malassez, Bizzozero and Salvioli, Zesas, Vitzon, 

 Gibson, and Frouin have performed complete splenectomy experi- 

 mentally with recovery. Gibson found that total extirpation was 

 followed by a decrease in the number of red corpuscles in the blood 

 and a relative and absolute increase in the number of white corpus- 

 cles, and the animals gained weight. In one case, the subject was 

 killed six months later and the mesenteric lymphatic glands were 

 found to be distinctly enlarged. Gibson concluded that the spleen 

 has a blood-forming action which is perhaps a subordinate one. 

 Jordon had less favorable results with complete extirpation. Of six 

 dogs submitted to this operation, all suffered considerable shock and 

 three died. In cases where the organ was partially removed, the 

 animals appeared to suffer no inconvenience when the lower half 

 was excised, but suffered greatly when the upper half was removed. 

 Kuester ligated portions of the splenic omentum and vessels. The 

 corresponding part of the organ became greatly swollen and ulti- 

 mately atrophied. Jonnesco, and Carriere and Vanverts ligated the 

 whole of the gastro-splenic omentum, including the vessels, and 

 found that abscess formation might result in certain cases. Investi- 

 gating the matter, the latter observers discovered that in eleven 

 healthy animals, ten showed the presence of microorganisms in 

 the organ. The bacteria were more plentiful immediately after the 

 animals had eaten. They consisted of staphylococci, streptococci, 

 and colon bacilli, but their virulence was impaired. Hedon trans- 

 planted the spleen subcutaneously in the same manner that he trans- 

 planted the pancreas. 



