930 
DEPARTMENT OF SURGERY. 
and especially if the abdominal walls are thin, the cord is not 
tied tio^ht enough to produce complete strangulation, but a sec¬ 
ond one is applied four days later to complete the strangulation 
and prolong the inflammation. If the inflammatory process still 
seems insufficient it is augmented by subcutaneous injection of 
sterilized brine at different points around the base of the tumor. 
In fifteen to twenty days the tumor will slough off, leaving a 
small wound that will require no further attention. It is need¬ 
less to add that the region, the skewers and cord must be surgi¬ 
cally clean. Derr reports two cases of tetanus from this method, 
but these occurred before the etiology of this disease was known. 
The exomphalos submitted for treatment shortly after birth 
may frequently be permanently reduced by compression with a 
body bandage. Alverson, of Bloomingtom, Illinois, reports the 
best of success from this simple method. Other practitioners 
vouch for the efficacy of actual cautery or cauterization with 
strong mineral acids over the tumor and its immediate surround¬ 
ings. McKillip pinches the tumor in a wooden clamp and then 
further strangulates by tying a cord tightly around it, after the 
clamp is adjusted. English practitioners favor a steel clamp 
made to fit the curvative of the region and held in place by sup¬ 
porting it around the body. Moller prefers sectional (multi¬ 
ple) ligation. 
Any of these sensible methods are worthy of consideration 
in view of their safety. The radical operation deserves noplace 
in veterinary surgery, on account of the inevitable fatalities, 
except in the cases which prove refractory to the palliative 
operations ; and these are indeed rare. Derr reports no failures 
from the method above mentioned after a trial of upward of 30 
years. 
(To be continued .) 
SURGICAL ITEMS. 
Wyman recommends neurectomy as a dernier ressort for the 
lameness of corns in the feet of horses. In our opinion this is a 
dangerous recommendation. The lameness of corns that proves 
refractory to the ordinary palliative treatment—while very rare 
—is too serious a condition for neurectomy of the plantars or 
digitals. Neurectomy is a useful operation in proportion to the 
surgeon’s ability to select suitable cases, and while the indica¬ 
tions in equine surgery are legion, it is our opinion that corns 
is not one of them.— (L. A. Mi) 
In the February number of the Review, under il French 
