610 
A. BABB. 
urged that if he did not have her treated in this way to dis¬ 
patch her at once in order to end her misery. He decided 
to have me try to save both cow and calf. Considering that 
I had everything to gain and nothing to lose, and being 
affected with an itching for the knife in such a novel case—a 
veritable tomomania—I readily consented. As he prized the 
cow highly, we soon agreed on a fee. 
I informed him that at such serious undertakings it was 
customary to have another member of my profession present 
to assist, but he objected on account of the extra expense and 
stating that he would do anything requested of him to aid 
me. I told him to wash his hands very clean in warm car- 
bolized water, while I did likewise and proceeded to prepare 
the necessary sutures, needles, scalpels, artery forceps, etc. 
The patient was secured much quicker than the method 
can be related, for she was lying on her left side in a small 
shed or stall, too weak to rise or to make any formidable 
resistance. In short, all the appliance used was but a common 
bull-leader introduced into her nostrils, and held by one of 
his neighbors in such a way as to throw her nose into a per¬ 
pendicular direction with the weight of her head resting on 
her horns. 
Two ounces of the tincture of opium, more as a stimulant 
than as an anodyne, was exhibited. The hair was clipped 
over the appropriate parts and the space washed with a solu¬ 
tion of that comparatively unpopular, but extremely useful 
antiseptic—carbolic acid. 
The laparotomy was performed in this manner: com¬ 
mencing about four inches before the anterior angle of the 
ilium, a free incision was made about fourteen inches down¬ 
ward, angling a little forward ; the first stroke of the knife 
“ off the land, ’ as a farmer boy accustomed to plowing 
would doubtless express it, for it severed the dermal covering 
and part of the subcutaneous tissues; the next two came 
down to the peritoneum, but here a pause was made to apply 
artery forceps to a couple of small vessels and to sponge off 
the parts. The hemorrhage was not extensive and soon 
subsided ; the peritoneum was then divided, and the gravid 
