230 Surgical Diseases and Surgery of the Dog 



distended, however, it may easily be felt as a pyriform body situated 

 immediately anterior to the pubic border. By rectal palpation it 

 can be felt under both conditions. The presence of uroliths and 

 neoplasms can generally be recognized by either method of pal- 

 pation, while inflammatory disturbances of the wall of the organ 

 are indicated by the evincement of pain on pressure. 



TRAUMATIC LESIONS. 



Injuries sustained by the bladder consist of traumatic or spon- 

 taneous rupture and wounds caused by penetration of foreign bodies. 

 Accidental wounds have also been inflicted during the course of 

 surgical operations. 



Rupture. Rupture can occur under the influence of some sud- 

 den strain while the organ is distended. Harrison observed an in- 

 stance which occurred in a Mastiff while the latter was making 

 attempts to copulate. 



The lesion can also result from the application of some violent 

 compressing force, as when a wheel passes over the abdomen. 



It can also occur from gradual or sudden over-distension owing 

 to mechanical obstruction at the neck or in the urethra, such as is 

 caused by the lodgment of a calculus (Petit and Almy) or through 

 torsion of the organ (Siedamgrotzky). 



It is less apt to follow the gradual formation of an obstruction, 

 as occurs from the presence of neoplasms, on account of the compen- 

 satory hypertrophy which takes place in the wall. But that it may 

 and does sometimes take place under such conditions is evidenced 

 by the following cases : Wehr described an instance resulting from 

 compression by a carcinoma of the retroperitoneal glands, De- 

 meurisse one from compression by a carcinoma of the neck of the 

 bladder, and Simonds another from compression by an enlarged 

 prostate. 



It may also occur as a result of suppression of micturition 

 through an animal's instinct of cleanliness. In December, 1900, 

 the municipal court of New York was called upon to decide a suit 

 at law brought by the owner of a Japanese Spaniel against an express 

 company, which had contracted to deliver the animal at a certain 

 destination but which, through negligence on the part of its em- 

 ployees, it had failed to do. The animal, cooped for several hours, 



