OPERATION FOR URETHRAL CALCULUS IN RUMINANTS. 367 
again, but tympanites soon sets in, and death takes place with symptoms 
of peritonitis and uraemia (frequent pulse, rigors and giddiness). Cases 
are reported where oxen have still lived for some weeks after rupture of 
the bladder. Stohr mentions an ox which lived six weeks, and Jacobi 
states having seen recovery after rupture, but as a rule animals in this 
condition are at once slaughtered, to avoid injury to the flesh, which 
takes on an unpleasant smell from resorption of urine from the abdominal 
cavity. Franck therefore recommends removing the urine by a trochar 
passed at the deepest point of the abdomen. 
In oxen it is important to operate early, and, on account of the peculiar 
course of the urethra, one method alone, viz., urethrotomy, is available. 
With few exceptions the calculus is found at the first curve, and can be 
reached most directly from the anterior surface of the scrotum. As, 
however, it is less convenient to operate here, most practitioners make 
the incision behind, and about a hand’s-breadth above the scrotum. For 
this operation the animal should be cautiously cast and laid on the left 
side, though quiet oxen may be operated on standing. The right hind 
foot is drawn forward with a cord, exposing the field of operation. 
After making sure by rectal examination that the bladder is not 
ruptured, and having once more carefully determined the position 
of the stone by palpation, and found that it is not contained in the 
superficial portion of the urethra, the skin is incised for 2 to 4 inches in 
the direction of the urethra, either at the point where the greater 
sensitiveness or hardness of the swelling indicates the calculus to be, or 
a hand’s-breath behind and above the scrotum. The retractor penis 
muscle, which is much more developed in the ox than in the horse, is 
then divided to the same extent. The urethra can then be felt, and if 
one operates at the point where the calculus is fixed the latter may be 
detected within it. After incising the corpus cavernosum, and the 
urethra itself, the stone is easily removed. 
Where, however, the calculus is situated in the first bend of the 
urethra (h) the retractor penis is divided, and an attempt made to draw 
forward the penis with the finger ; the bulbo-cavernosus muscle and 
urethra cut through, and the stone removed by pressure with the 
fingers, or if necessary, by means of forceps. The stone when rough 
sometimes becomes so firmly fixed in the swollen mucous membrane 
that even the knife must be employed to free it. The cut in the 
urethra should be as small as possible, to facilitate healing and prevent 
stricture. Should the stone be the sole obstruction to passage of urine, 
an immediate discharge occurs on its removal, partly through the opera¬ 
tion wound and partly from the orifice of the urethra, but in any case 
it is necessary to examine the lower portion of the urethra with a 
catheter, to discover whether other stones are present and require 
