482 
J. C. MEYER, JR. 
mouth. The examination was hindered, owing to the limited mo¬ 
bility of his temporo-maxillary articulation. With ali ttle perse¬ 
verance, however, I succeeded in introducing my hand into his 
mouth, and without searching long, I felt the stalk of a spear of 
timothy hay. This I secured between my index finger and thumb 
and extricated it without any difficulty. The seeds to a great 
extent had fallen off. An examination of the swelling reveals 
the presence of pus in several places. Gases are also perceptible 
by a crepitating sensation conveyed to the finger. An outlet is 
made for the effete substances by means of a bibtoury. 
Dec. 4th.—The discharge of a thin foetid pus is copious. 
Several new abscesses appear. They are also evacuated. Appe¬ 
tite is considerably impaired. 
Dec. 5th.—A quantity of debris tissue is removed from the 
cavities of the abscesses, followed by an abundant flow of thick 
white pus. He opens his eye again. 
Dec. 6th.—More defunct tissue is removed, swelling greatly 
diminishing, flow of pus is considerable, appetite improving. 
Dec. 7th—10th (at which time he was discharged) nothing 
unusual occurred. He has been improving, and from present in¬ 
dications, he will be restored in the course of a week. 
The most unpleasant feature about these cases of obstruction 
of the Stenon duct is the extensive sloughing of the skin, which 
requires a long time to repair. 
Now in Case 2 no sloughing of the skin took place. The 
prevention of this, 1 ascribe to the timely removal of the foreign 
substances obstructing the duct, thereby arresting the destructive 
process to a great extent. 
I am convinced, that if the obstruction be removed within the 
first twenty-four hours after its inception, no abscesses would be 
developed, and the case would terminate in two or three days. 
I have, on various prior occasions, met with the same exag¬ 
gerated state of affairs, where sloughing of the skin was very ex¬ 
tensive. This might have been obviated had I detected the real 
cause of the obstruction. 
