EXTRACTION OF A FORK FROM THE ABDOMEN OF A DOG. 115 
The other half of the fork was enveloped and tightly grasped by 
the origin of the mesocolon, which was red and engorged. 
Drawing it with moderate force towards me, I attempted in vain 
to disengage the fork, and was compelled to have recourse to the 
knife. I slid the back of a very narrow bistoury along the fork to 
the base of its prongs, and drawing it back, I cut through all the 
tissues that retained it, and thus drew out the fork with the greatest 
ease. The dog, during the operation, vomited some soup that it 
had taken in the morning, and also struggled violently, causing a 
great portion of the large intestines to protrude and retract through 
the wound, and admitting a great deal of air into the abdomen. 
There was a very little bleeding ; the intestines were all returned 
to their natural situation, and the wound closed by the suture du 
pelletier. 
The half of the fork which was free was covered partly by a 
thin and smooth brown deposit, and partly by oxide of iron, irre- 
gularly deposited. The prongs, which had been enveloped in the 
mesocolon, were oxidized through their whole extent, and in many 
places were eaten deeply into, with many grooves more or less 
marked, and running parallel with the length of the fork. 
M. Nicolas now took charge of the dog. He kept him low, and 
administered emollient injections. There was some fever, and 
swelling of the lips of the wound, and hot and painful enlargement 
of the genital organs. 
On examining the wound five days afterwards, the stitches had 
given way, and a considerable quantity of pus was found between 
the integument and the muscular parietes of the belly, the incision 
through which was already closed. Other stitches were passed 
through the integument; but they also gave way two days after- 
wards, and the wound was then abandoned to Nature and to the 
dog, who was continually licking it, and thus kept it in a healthy 
state. The swelling of the penis and scrotum diminished, and, 
twenty days after the operation, not only was the wound healed, 
but the patient had begun to acquire condition. No pain was ex- 
pressed when the parts of the belly that had been occupied by 
the fork were pressed upon. The dog was used again as before, 
and had not lost one of its good qualities. 
At the time of the operation, the fork was no longer in the in- 
testinal canal. It had, probably, perforated the stomach, and escaped 
into the abdominal cavity about the third day after the accident, 
and when the animal evinced such decided symptoms of amend- 
ment. It then became entangled in the mesocolon, where it re- 
mained until the operation. The attempt of M. Terris to force it 
along, produced some laceration or other injury, evinced by the 
