718 
M. STALKER. 
feeding, working or general management afforded any im¬ 
munity against these troublesome attacks. Such a history, 
taken with the accompanying symptom of frequent efforts at 
micturation, but the passage of only a small quantity of urine 
at any one time, it would seem should have suggested to some 
one the thought of other trouble than colic in any of its forms. 
But it is quite as certain that it did not. The first case was 
an aged gelding that had been raised and worked on a farm 
about four miles from the college. He had been subject to 
these attacks for two or three years. He was a strong, good- 
looking work animal, and apparently suffered no special incon¬ 
venience except during the periodic attacks. The history of 
the case directed my attention to the probability of calculus. 
Rectal examination revealed a calculus about the size of an 
ordinary lien’s egg. I informed the owner that an operation 
was the only course that promised any satisfactory results. 
After putting the animal in proper condition for the opera¬ 
tion, I passed the catheter and secured it in position by pass¬ 
ing a strap around the body. The patient was then secured 
in a narrow operating stall so he could not get down. I then 
proceeded to operate by making a free incision down upon 
the catheter, just over, or slightly above the ischial arch. This 
done the catheter was pushed downward, leaving a free open¬ 
ing into the urethra. By introducing the finger the calculus 
could be plainly felt, tightly wedged in the neck of the blad¬ 
der. I had but to seize the stone between the thumb and 
finger and by making considerable traction I took it away 
without further trouble. The urine followed through the 
open wound with great force, going to a distance of ten feet. 
I was somewhat chagrined at the ease with which the opera¬ 
tion was performed. I had a beautiful new lithotrite, with 
which I was expecting to make a very pleasing impression on 
the minds of the observers, but there was' no occasion what¬ 
ever for its use. The wound was closed with wire sutures 
and dressed antiseptically. But very little inflammation fol¬ 
lowed. The only complication presented was the tendency 
for the urine to escape through the wound and retard healing. 
After one or two days I kept the catheter constantly in place, 
