DEPARTMENT OF SURGERY. 
497 
METHOD OF SECURING PATIENT FOR RUMENOTOMY. 
A, rumen ; b , location of rumen ; c , costal border. 
tion, and the patient should be so secured that it cannot lie 
down or injure the operator. In many instances, the surgeon 
can improvise some simple means of restraint, but the most con¬ 
venient one is to place the patient in a stall or against a strong 
partition Four or six holes are made in the partition on the 
right side of the animal, two on a vertical line as far back as 
the hips of the patient, and two on a vertical line with the 
withers, and if the other two are needed they are made on a ver¬ 
tical line as far forwards as the pole. The surgeons casting 
ropes may be used to secure the patient (Fig. 19) ; a knot is 
made at one end and the rope is passed through the first hole 
over the back, around and under the abdomen through the sec¬ 
ond hole ; the rope is then drawn tight and taken diagonally 
across to the third hole and over the withers, around and under 
the thorax just behind the fore legs and through the fourth 
hole, when it is drawn tight and fastened securely ; if no other 
means of fastening the head is improvised the rope may be 
passed through the fifth and sixth hole. When this is com¬ 
pleted the hind legs should be strapped together and one fore 
leg raised, leaving the weight of the animal on two hind legs 
and one fore leg. This method of securing will prevent the 
patient from lying down or injuring the operator. The hair 
must be clipped and the site of the incision washed with soap, 
