THE OPERATION OF LITHOTOMY IN HORSES. 15*5 
efforts without voiding any urine at all, or, to use his own 
language, that the animal has “ a stoppage in his water.” 
What seems to have led (and very naturally so) to our heed¬ 
lessness, m a general way, of these complaints, is the fact, that, 
in nine cases out of ten the disease is not in the urinary apparatus 
at all, they being but sympathetically disturbed ; still, we cannot 
quit the subject (and we beg pardon for the digression) without 
reminding the veterinary practitioner how very important it is 
that he should not treat the nine cases with levity, in respect to 
this, when the tenth might prove to be a veritable urinary disor¬ 
der—nay, even a case ol stone in the bladder itself. 
“ In monodactyles, there are two methods of operating for the stone, one 
through the rectum, the other through the bladder. The first, which con¬ 
sists in laying open the bladder by a longitudinal incision made through the 
parietes of the part of the rectum adherent to it, by means of a straight bis- 
touri, is easily practised, but in its consequences is dangerous in the extreme: 
in fact, it is an operation never to be adopted but in a case where the mag¬ 
nitude of the stone precludes its extraction through the neck ot the bladder. 
“ In all other cases, lithotomy by the urethra is to be pursued. For its 
performance are required—a straight long-bladed bistouri, a fluted sound, 
and a pair of forceps curved at the extremities. The animal should, it 
practicable, be maintained in the erect posture. 
“ It is a good preparative, inasmuch as it facilitates the operation (though 
not absolutely a necessary one), to distend the urethra with warm water. 
This being done, and the tail platted and carried round on the right quarter, 
the operator makes an incision from above downwards, from an inch and a 
half to two inches in length, on one side of the curvature of the urethra, 
opposite to the ischial arch. Next, he pushes the point of the bistouri into 
the urethra, making a small opening, through which he introduces the sound, 
and passes it onward into the bladder. Now, placing the back of the bis¬ 
touri within the groove of the sound, by gliding the knife forwards, the 
pelvic portion of the urethra, and also the neck of the bladder, become slit 
open; the latter in two places, in consequence of a second cut being made 
in withdrawing the bistouri. 
“ The opening made being considered of sufficient dimensions, the ope¬ 
rator introduces the forceps into the bladder, and seizes the calculus in the 
direction of its long axis, which he ascertains by the other hand within the 
rectum. The forceps, clasping the stone, are now to be withdrawn, but 
with gentleness, and with a vacillating sort of movement of the hand, from 
side to side, in order more easily to surmount any difficulties in the passage, 
and the more effectually to avoid contusion or laceration.” 
The warm water is intended as a substitute for the whalebone 
rod which we pass into the urethra; and we are inclined to augur 
favourably of the practice, as far as we can estimate it on paper; 
to say the least of it, it is worth a trial, the introduction ol the rod 
being, now and then, an allair of no small difficulty. 
In a case related by Mr. Mogford, in The Medical and Physical 
Journal, it appears that a stone weighing nearly five ounces was 
extracted without the aid of forceps, or any sort of instrument at 
all; one hand being at the time within the rectum, and two fingers 
