264 
NASAL POLYPUS. 
cleared, the use of an astringent is advisable, such as a solution 
of zinc, nitrate of silver, alum, or matico, with a view to 
prevent reproduction, and restore the mucous membrane to a 
sound state. 5 ’ 
Ligature has, so far as we know, never been tried with 
much success in animals. D’Arboval very justly says, that 
it is extremely difficult to perform such an operation. Some 
persons recommend trephining the bones at the root of the 
pedicle, but how can one exactly ascertain where this is. If 
it can be reached from the nostril, why not prefer the next 
mode of operating, which is, perhaps, the best, and, we may 
say, the one in common use ? we mean — 
Excision. — Mr. Varnell very effectually operated on his 
casein America, and Messrs. Bowman and Dickinson furnish 
us with further proof of the efficacy of this plan. The 
question of slitting up the nostril, or performing tracheotomy, 
is to be only considered in individual cases. There are two 
modes of cutting the polypus out; the one by slicing it 
away, the other by cutting at once through the pedicle. The 
latter is preferable, where it can be practised, but should 
the surface of attachment be large, or adhesions exist, as in 
the case recorded in the c Instructions Veterinaires , 5 perse- 
verance will be needed to get it away by piecemeal. M. Tears 
succeeded in bandaging and using evulsion ; I doubt if a 
second attempt would prove so successful. The haemorrhage 
consequent on these operations will sometimes excite the 
fears of the surgeon. There is generally no danger to be 
apprehended, but if a great loss of blood should occur, then 
plugging the nose with tow or cotton wool, and cold ablu- 
tions to the parts will be all that is needed. Persons might 
sometimes be inclined to try — 
Cauterization . — Astringent injections may be used with any 
of the former operations, but caustics on the whole are 
objectionable. Whereas Celsus recommends excision with a 
sharp instrument of iron, and the application afterwards to 
the part of a tent smeared with some styptic. Galen, in his 
e Isagoge , 5 in place of the latter recommends scraping of the 
roots. Cauterization, as an independent operative procedure, 
has often been recommended. It is of very ancient date, 
for Vegetius, in his f Mulomedicinae , 5 speaks as if veterinary 
surgeons principally depended upon the actual cautery for the 
extraction of polypus. The potential cautery has also been 
recommended for deep-seated polypi, such as touching them 
with a stick of nitrate of silver, or with sulphuric acid, the 
chloride or butter of antimony, or the nitrico-oxide of 
mercury. Such practice, however, on the whole, is not 
commendable. 
