On Intestinal Rest and Movement. 



examination without the necessity of subsequent employment of 

 anaesthetics or of operative procedure. 



This operation consists in making a double division in the con- 

 tinuity of the small intestine, the approximation by means of sutures 

 of the upper and lower ends of the gut which are to be returned to 

 the abdominal cavity to serve their previous purpose as a part of the 

 intestinal tube, the bringing outwards of the two ends of the intes- 

 tine which has been isolated from the rest of the tract by the double 

 section, with a view to the subsequent healing of these two mouths in 

 the abdominal incision. The mesentery is interfered with as little as 

 possible in making the intestinal division. 



Operation. — Upon a healthy dog weighing 14 lbs. deeply under the 

 influence of morphia, I performed this operation, separating from the 

 rest nearly 20 cm. of the upper portion of the jejunum, which was 

 dealt with as above described. 



The dog was kept warm, and the day after the operation received 

 several spoonfuls of milk. The quantity was increased rapidly, and 

 on the fifth day meat was given ; by the sixth day the animal was 

 practically normal, the condition of the wound in the abdominal walls, 

 which was now granulating and painless, being all that could be 

 desired. A further rest of three days was, however, allowed in order 

 that all danger of prolapse of the intestine in lifting the animal might 

 be avoided. 



~No hypnotic or anaesthetic was employed in any of the experiments 

 to be described in this paper, nor was any more restraint exercised 

 than by occasionally laying a hand on the head or body of the dog in 

 token that he was to remain still. As regards the disposition of the 

 animal, his attachment to myself and the laboratory attendant was 

 such, and the inconvenience of the experiment so little, that when 

 brought into the laboratory he often endeavoured to leap on to the 

 table on which he rested whilst under examination. When placed on 

 his side on this table he remained, as a rule, perfectly quiet, except for 

 an occasional deep respiration, a start during sleep, or a stretching of 

 the limbs. 



On examining the floor of the short wound in the middle line of the 

 abdominal parieties, the two round mouths of the fistulous intestine 

 with their everted mucous membrane could be readily observed, and 

 their movements noted without the least difficulty. There was a 

 space of 2 cm. intervening between these two mouths which was 

 filled by the parietal peritoneum muscles and skin which had been 

 divided in the operation, and subsequently united by suture to the 

 corresponding structures of the opposite side. At the time the 

 experiments commenced firm union had occurred in this position. 



