139 
CASE OF WOUND INTO THE ABDOMINAL CAVITY 
OF A HORSE. 
By Mr. Thomas Mayer, Sen., V.S . 
Dear Sir,-— The case occurred to a young hack-horse while 
out at grass, the wound penetrating the off-side, high up at the 
posterior portion of the last short rib, being three inches long, 
in a horizontal direction. The consequences were, the protrusion 
of the omentum, and, by the time I arrived — being three miles 
off — it had been dragged out in length from fifteen to eighteen inches. 
Had the wound been lower down, or in a perpendicular direction, 
the small intestines must have escaped. How the wound had 
occurred we could not tell : it might arise from being gored with 
a cow’s horn, or from malicious injury : it was too high up to be 
staked. 
I immediately excised the whole of it close up to the external 
wound, replacing the remainder just within the lips of the inner 
wound, through the abdominal muscles. The integuments were 
brought close together by sutures, and a plaster of white of an egg 
and wheat-flour beat up to a paste and spread upon linen was 
put over it, so as to secure, if possible, adhesive inflammation and 
union by the first intention. A linen sheet, doubled, was carried 
tight around the body, and well stitched along the back, in order 
to give every needful support. 
The animal was ordered to be kept perfectly quiet — no hay al- 
lowed for the first ten days, but a few small feeds of oats and 
bran — nursing him chiefly upon oatmeal diffused in his water, as 
thick as he would drink it, in portions of three quarts at a time. 
The dressings were not disturbed during two days, when, find- 
ing there was much discharge, and that union by the first intention 
had not occurred, I was compelled to remove the whole, and sub- 
mit to the slow suppurating and granulating process by which 
Nature heals her wounds. This, I think, arose from the termi- 
nating portion of the omentum (which possesses little vitality) 
sloughing within the edges of the inner wound. Nevertheless, every 
thing went on favourably : there was little disturbance in the sys- 
tem — no pain evinced — the bowels were regular, and the faecal dis- 
charge free from any appearance of blood or the least indication of 
being injured — the urine was also of its natural quantity and colour. 
The dressings now consisted of a plaster of digestive ointment over 
the wound, and a poultice of oatmeal over that, binding the whole 
up as before. The dressings were now renewed daily, keeping 
