504 : 
REPORTS OF CASES. 
S 
such as the administration of oil and glycerine, proved of no 
benefit, and the owner was notified of the critical condition 
of the patient and of the necessity for surgical interference, 
viz., the opening of the oesophagus, to displace the foreign 
body, which was lodged in the thoracic portion of that or¬ 
gan, and of the division and stitching of that organ for that 
purpose. 
Having obtained his consent to the operation, two drachms 
of solution of cocaine, ten per cent., were injected around the 
enlargement. The animal standing up, an incision was made 
through the cut, and continued down to the oesophagus. The 
blood vessels, carotid and oesophagus being isolated and care¬ 
fully pushed aside, the oesophagus itself was separated from 
the surrounding cellular tissue, and a piece of tape put under 
it, allowing it to be gently raised from the depth of the 
wound and its coats carefully incised. At that moment the 
sac was'emptied of its contents, consisting of masticated food 
and saliva, and then a probang inserted into the canal. Some 
eighteen inches in the thorax, from the cervical incision, the 
instrument came in contact with the foreign body, which to 
be dislodged and pushed in the stomach required a certain 
amount of force. A small portion of the edges of the oeso¬ 
phageal incision was removed, and the coats of the organs 
brought together with hue closed sutures of carbolized silk. 
The outside edges of the incision were held together with a 
pin suture, the wound dressed antiseptically as well as possi¬ 
ble, and the animal put on liquid nourishing diet. 
The following day the temperature of the patient was 
I02f°, pulse 60, respiration 24. He had drank a pail of alco¬ 
holized water, the wound looked well and was dressed as be¬ 
fore. On the third day the temperature rose to io5f°, the 
pulse remaining at 60, weak, but regular, and the respiration 
accelerated to 40. It was feared that the stitches had not 
closed the wound very closely, as a portion of the liquid he 
had taken seemed to escape. Nutritive enemas were given 
during the day, and the wound dressed as usual. On the 
fourth day the thermometer registered 105°, the pulse had 
gone up to 80, respiration 40. The expression was anxious 
