FISTULOUS PAROTID DUCT. 
391 
issued afresh the saliva in as copious a stream as it did from tlie 
duct before the performance of the operation. Such are our ex¬ 
pectations from tying the duct. 
• Foiled in every known means to subdue a fistula of the parotid 
gland itself, Hurtrel d’Arboval tells us that he conceived the idea 
(certainly a singular one) of paralysing the gland, of depriving it 
of vitality, or at least render it incapable of any secretory action. 
This he proposed to effect by compression, so contrived that the 
gland might be in a manner isolated, its communication with the 
surrounding parts being (by means of irons adjusted so as to press 
all round it) more or less intercepted. The animal, after the ap¬ 
paratus was all adjusted, manifested some nervous irritation, but 
it soon subsided. The temperature of the gland included within 
the apparatus became greatly diminished, and the issue of saliva 
completely arrested: the upper portion of the gland, on the con¬ 
trary, swelled, and threatened the fonnation of fresh abscesses; 
in addition to which, the ligatures soon began to cause ulceration 
of the skin, and, in fine, produce so much mischief, that the expe¬ 
riment, at the end of fifteen days, was abandoned. 
A cure was afterwards effected, however, by actual cauteriza¬ 
tion. The iron used was of extraordinaiy dimensions, and it was 
applied at a white heat to the whole surface of the gland, so as to 
destroy the paits to a considerable depth; and no sooner was one 
eschar detached, than the surface was cauterized afresh with the 
same severity, until a slough was thrown off, from the depth even 
of the blood-vessels underneath the gland : in this manner, I re¬ 
peat, Huitrel d’Arboval eventually established a cure. 
There is, however, a method of cure in these untoward cases, no 
less simple than efiectual, and not the less, I trust, deserving con¬ 
sideration because (as far as my observation has gone) this is the 
first occasion on which it has received publicity. As yet the ex¬ 
periment rests on the success of two cases, of such a decided cha¬ 
racter that I feel I can, with more than ordinary confidence, place 
my remedy in the hands of the members of this Society. - 
The principle on which I proceeded was similar to that which 
has, since my experiments, been attempted to be put into practice 
by Hurtrel d’Arboval, but, as we have seen, unsuccessfully. His 
operation consisted in paralysing the action of the gland by inter¬ 
cepting its supplies of blood, or nervous influence, or both. What 
I recommend, is the destruction of the glandular mechanism—the 
annihilation of the secretoiy power; which, I conceive, consider¬ 
ing there are three salivary glands, and these three in pairs (not 
to take into our account the pancreas), may be done without mate¬ 
rially affecting the animal economy. 
- In June, 1826, a young brown horse was admitted into the 
