698 PROGRESS OF VETERINARY SCIENCE AND ART. 
when any accident removes the inward wound of the stomach 
from the outward wound, the abdominal muscles press upon 
the stomach, and follow it so closely, that if there be not a 
mere laceration extremely wide, this pressure closes the hole, 
keeps the food in, enables the patient to vomit, and not a 
particle, even of jellies or soups, is ever lost, or goes out into 
the cavity of the belly.” Is not this precisely what we 
witness in cases of ruptured stomach in the horse? 
What are the appearances exhibited by wounds of the 
intestine, depending upon the action of the bowel? Haller 
and Travers have both described them. Travers* studied 
them on dogs, and he found that — “ if a gut be punctured, 
the elasticity of the peritoneum and the contraction of the 
muscular fibres open the wound, and the villous or mucous 
coat forms a sort of hernial protrusion, and obliterates the 
aperture. If an incised wound be made, the edges are 
drawn asunder and reverted, so that the mucous coat is 
elevated in the form of a fleshy lip. If the section be trans- 
verse, the lip is broad and bulbous, and acquires tumefaction 
and redness from the contraction of the circular fibres 
behind it, which produces, relatively to the everted portion, 
the appearance of a cervix. If the incision is according to 
the length of the cylinder, the lip is narrow, and the con- 
traction of the adjacent longitudinal, resisting that of the 
circular fibres, gives the orifice an oval form. This eversion 
and contraction is produced by that series of motions which 
constitutes the peristaltic action of the intestines.” 
Having thus shown that we have not much to fear from 
peritonitis and effusion of fecal matter, and having described 
the various kinds of wounds of the intestine, we are now 
ready to ask — How shall the wounded intestine be treated ? 
The human surgeons have had more experience in these 
operations than veterinarians. The expert assassin stabs his 
man in the belly because he knows or believes it is the 
surest way to kill him. We must profit, then, by the 
experience of surgeons, and by the experiments they have 
purposely performed on animals. Guilhem has not informed 
us how he brought the lips of the wounds together. All we 
know is that he used sutures. Mr. Kettle used the inter- 
mittent sutures. We must ever remember, in performing 
this operation, that the sutures have to come away per 
anum, and not that they are to be left long to act as setons 
and induce peritonitis. The experiments of Duverger, 
Astley Cooper, Dr. Thomson, and Dr. Smith, are full of 
information in point. 
* Travers, loc. cit., page 85. 
