A LETTER FROM MR. T. A. DOLLAR. 
193 
4. Admitting that the passage of the pin through the 
parietes of the colon occurred, the opening resulting there¬ 
from would, in all probability, be immediately closed; or, if 
not, it would not allow—except ulceration had ensued—the 
passage through it of anything capable of producing injurious 
or fatal effects. In support of this opinion, I need only ad¬ 
duce the operations of paracentesis abdominis and enterotomy 
which are successfully performed upon human beings, horses, 
and cattle; and upon the two latter, even when we employ 
the trocar used for tapping the rumen, and which is very 
considerably larger than a pin of the “ smallest size.” If 
we accept Mr. Fleming’s hypothesis, that the puncture of the 
colon by a tiny pin is, or may be, fatal, how will any of us 
dare to repeat the operations which I have just named, see¬ 
ing they are attended (of necessity) with risk increasing in 
proportion to the size of the instrument employed ? 
In conclusion, I beg to say, that while I do not assert the 
impossibility of the animal’s death having occurred in the way 
presumed by Mr. Fleming, I cannot accept his deductions 
without evidence of a more conclusive and satisfactory cha¬ 
racter. 
A LETTER FROM MR. T. A. DOLLAR. 
Veterinary Establishment, 
Marylebone Lane ; Feb. 14, 1859. 
Gentlemen,' — I am sorry that Professor Varnell’s reply to 
my communication, and your leader on the same, necessitates 
me again troubling you with a few remarks. At the outset I 
beg leave to deny the existence of any animus in the matter 
towards Professor Varnell; I am only desirous of vindicating 
my professional opinion in the case, and have only stated 
the facts connected with it, from the time my attention was 
first called to it up to the present; as also the opinions of 
the eminent veterinary surgeons who have examined the 
horse and confirmed my opinion, that he is not glandered. 
Professor Varnell asks of what has Mr. Dollar to complain? 
My answer is most easily given by the following query: 
Why did the case appear in the columns of the Veterinarian 
(it not being a case of Veterinary Jurisprudence) ? and 
after a lapse of nearly four months. What does the fact of 
its appearance after such an interval prove to any unbiassed 
mind ? 
Professor Varnell refers to a brown horse examined 
