428 
REPORTS OF CASES. 
the abdominal muscles, through which could be seen the ab¬ 
dominal viscera, rising and falling with the respirations. The 
sides of the opening in the skin were held back with retractors, 
while the edges of the rent in the abdominal muscles were 
picked up with the forceps and freshened with the scalpel, then 
brought snugly together by an uninterrupted suture— a contri¬ 
bution from the anatomy of some distant relative of the cat under 
operation. The opening in the skin was then trimmed to suit 
the reduced surface it was to cover, and its sides brought into 
apposition by interrupted sutures ; a compress of absorbent cot¬ 
ton saturated with creolin solution placed over the seat of 
operation was held firmly in position by a cheesecloth bandage, 
which was not disturbed until the seventh day after the operation, 
the cat in the meantime eating and feeling well. At this time 
the parts were thoroughly cleansed with creolin solution, and the 
same dressing renewed. The same procedure was gone through 
four days later, and finally, in seven days more, when complete 
union had taken place. This last dressing consisting only of a 
layer of dry absorbent cotton and a bandage, simply as a protec¬ 
tion to the newly healed parts. To this last dressing the cat 
objected, however, and licked and chewed at it, sufficient to 
irritate the newly healed surface. The irritation was allayed 
by bathing with a mild creolin solution for a few days, when 
the following protective dressing was applied, as his mistress 
impressed upon me his proclivity for climbing and his passion 
for his opposite sex. 
A u glycerini-gelatine ” dressing was placed over the surface, 
about two inches more extensive on all sides than the seat of 
operation. An elastic bandage made to lace up the back was 
then worn by the cat for eight or nine days, but causing chafing 
in the region of the stifles and elbows, was left off by his mis¬ 
tress ; and the cat, seeing no possible use for the glycerini-gela- 
tine-dressing, removed that also. The surface of the abdomen, 
over the seat of operation, and previous seat of hernia, is per¬ 
fectly smooth and even, and the-cat’s health and spirits of the 
best. 
What prompted me to report this case ? Not because hernia 
in the cat family is rare, surely. And not because I think this 
particular line of treatment for hernia is new, just as surely. 
And certainly not because the operation is difficult. But I re¬ 
port it for a great many reasons. One is, because it is simple. 
Another is, because I do not believe it is done for the relief of 
cats in that condition very often—and if I can get in a word for 
