158 THE DISEASES OP THE DOG. 



frequent fits of pain, " and the point of the penis is pro- 

 truded from the sheath, never being withdrawn." The 

 leg is not raised to void the urine, but the creature strains 

 violently when the act has either been accomplished, or 

 there is no power to perform it. If the dog be taken on 

 the knee, and one knowing the situation of the contents 

 gently manipulates the abdomen, the body may be felt 

 within the bladder, which will mostly be contracted and 

 emp!y. A very interesting case of calculus in the bladder 

 was recorded by Professor Morton, and the specimen may be 

 seen in the museum of the London School. The stone practi- 

 cally fills the viscus, and could easily be felt during life. 

 Mayhew frankly confesses that he has never performed 

 lithotomy on the dog, and he doubts whether we would 

 find it practicable, considering the delicacy of the patient 

 and the smallness of the parts to be operated on. Cer- 

 tainly but few successful cases are on record, but it has 

 been amply proved as not beyond the power of the canine 

 surgeon. Hill ( f Veterinary Journal,' vol. xiii, p. 43) 

 describes a successful performance of the operation, but 

 subsequent death from peritonitis. The patient was a 

 St. Bernard bitch ; 202 calculi, varying in size from that 

 of a millet to a potato, were extracted ; the largest weighed 

 three ounces, and the total mass weighed nine ounces ; 

 they were perfectly smooth and white, and mostly trian- 

 gular in form. The case was complicated by renal cal- 

 culus. As usual in these cases, a stone had become 

 fixed in the neck of the bladder and caused obstruction. 

 Unless this obstruction is removed by operation, the 

 bladder becomes mortified and the patient dies. The 

 operation presents no special features when performed on 

 the dog or bitch. Touatt informs us that occasionally 

 a large calculus in the bladder is broken down by the 

 forcible compression exerted on it by the muscular coat. 

 This is a remarkable instance of natural lithotrity, an 

 operation which is seldom needed in artificial removal 

 because the calculi are usually small and numerous. 



Rupture as the Bladder occurs as the culmination of 

 obstruction of the urethral passage in cases of diseased 



