72 
CRIMEAN RETROSPECTS. 
the mules, but they always did well after being re- 
duced. How they were occasioned could not be posi- 
tively ascertained ; but much was ascribed to some little 
peculiarities in the habits of the animals, especially when a 
number of them were kept close together. In the present 
case, nothing in the form of a scratch or wound could be dis- 
covered to account for its production. About eight or nine 
inches of the gut was in a state of gangrene, and covered with 
straw and mud ; the animal getting up and lying down with 
great uneasiness. 
There being no means of having anything done for him 
where he then was, I had him at once sent over to my sick 
lines. On his arrival there I determined to amputate the 
whole of the mortified intestine, and for that purpose I had 
it first washed with tepid water, and the faeces afterwards 
removed as well as an opening scarcely wide enough to admit 
the little finger would admit of. 
The idea of returning it was never thought of, for such a 
thing was impossible, and the parts were evidently lost to all 
vital action. So, therefore, securing the animal in a stand- 
ing position, I commenced the operation by passing a needle 
— about fourteen inches in length, armed with a double 
ligature of strong silk, well waxed — through the mass 
close to the anus. Cutting this ligature from the needle, 
I firmly tied the ends of each thread together around the 
protrusion, thus entirely circumscribing it, but at the same 
time allowing of the opening into the intestinal canal being 
a little wider than before the operation. Care of course 
was necessary to have each thread well secured to its own 
side, otherwise the ligature was worse than useless, and would 
have entirely frustrated a favorable result. 
To moderate the straining, which was very great, I fastened 
a tight girth around the abdomen, and used frequent injections 
of tepid water, olive oil, and an aqueous solution of opium. 
Opium was also administered by the mouth ; nothing else, 
however, was given, except sloppy bran mashes, as I ima- 
gined the action of a purgative or even a laxative would only 
have increased the peristaltic action of the intestines, and 
induced more straining. 
During all the next day my patient was very restless, — get- 
ting up and lying down as if frantic from pain. Twenty-six 
hours from the time when I first applied the ligatures, I had the 
animal again secured, and with a bistoury removed the whole 
of the substance close to the ligatures. Next morning these, 
by gentle traction, came easily away, and scarcely any bleed- 
ing followed. I had also a compress or kind of truss made to fit 
