510 
G. A. JOHNSON. 
After some experiments with silk, cat gut, and other 
sutures, l conceived the idea of utilizing the tissues of the 
tendons of the horse for sutures. Taking one of the perfora- 
tus tendons from a mare that had died from a rupture of one 
of the iliac arteries, in trying to foal, I placed it in a strong 
corrosive sublimate solution for one week, then 1 separated 
the tendon into fine threads, which I twisted by rolling on a 
clean board with the hand, then with a sharp knife removed 
the rough points caused by broken fibres. After having thus 
dressed the threads 1 placed them in a bottle containing olive 
oil three parts and carbolic acid one part. The bottle was 
then tightly corked and set away for two weeks, then the 
sutures were placed in another bottle containing olive oil and 
tannic acid, one drachm of the acid to the ounce of oil. This 
bottle was tightly corked and allowed to stand for two weeks, 
when the sutures were ready for use. 
The corrosive sublimate and carbolic acid thoroughly dis¬ 
infect the sutures, and the tannic acid toughens them, and the 
olive oil keeps them soft and pliable. 
It is very difficult to get the threads as smooth as the cat 
gut, and of late 1 have not attempted this, for when they are 
kept in the oil, they are so pliable that they can be used, con¬ 
veniently, if they are a little rough. 
Prepared as above delineated it takes four oi five weeks 
for their absorption, in a closed cavity, or as buried sutures. 
From five hundred to one thousand sutures can be made 
from one tendon, of varying size and lengths, up to sixteen to 
eighteen inches long. 
It is easier to tease the threads out of dried tendons, but 
they are more readily absorbed. 
These threads answer equally well for ligatures. 
PILOCARPINE AS A PURGATIVE FOR THE HORSE. 
By the Same. 
Pilocarpine hydrochlorate given hypodermically is a good 
hydragogue purgative for the horse ; it is a mild systemic 
