REPORTS OF CASES. 
717 
healthy skin. For the suture I used six strands of the strongest 
waxed silk I had ; the interrupted sutures was used. In some 
places it was utterly impossible to force the needle through. It 
was necessary to cut holes with a fine pointed bistoury. After 
the opening had been sutured the animal was allowed to assume 
the standing position, which she did after making several unef- 
fectual efforts. From the struggling to stand up in the hay and 
also in trying to assume the standing position, it caused all but 
three of the sutures to either break or pull through. I naturally 
felt disappointed at this mishap, but more so, for as the animal 
walked a few steps a small portion of the rumen and a loop of 
intestine passed through the opening. I cast the animal again 
and used the quill sutures. I forced back the protruding portion 
of the rumen and loop of intestine. The rumen and floor of the 
abdomen were sutured separately, as nearly all of the adhesions 
were now broken. I sutured the rumen with the cat-gut sutures; 
the uninterrupted suture was used. I am afraid the suturing of 
the rumen was more in name than reality, as it was fast be¬ 
coming dark and I could hardly see. After suturing the ab¬ 
dominal walls as firmly and as securely as I possibly could, the 
animal was allowed to stand. Each abdominal suture was from 
two to three inches from the edges of the wound. A smaller 
suture was used to bring the edges of the wound together, thus 
making it almost impossible for the abdominal sutures to break. 
The wound was dressed with carbolic, a large pad of oakum ap¬ 
plied over it and the abdomen enveloped tightly in a hand cir¬ 
cular bandage. The patient was rather irritable and restless, so 
I gave her 3 iv of Tinct. Opii. I stood her in a small stall, 
giving her as little freedom as possible, after which I left. She 
was seen the next afternoon. The bandage was soaked by 
the discharge ; the oakum was saturated with it, as was also the 
surrounding skin. It possessed quite a characteristic gangrenous 
odor. The discharge had a sero-sanguinous color and oozed 
from the edges of the wound and from the holes caused by the 
suture. Skin looked black and blue in patches and small septic 
abscesses were beginning to form. The sutures were beginning 
