reports OF oases. 
227 
infirmary, on the 13th, a week later, I removed from her a calculi 
that weighed four ounces. I introduced into the neck of the blad¬ 
der a curling iron; with it I dilated meatus urinarus, she being a 
very large mare, and taking plenty of time, I dilated it large 
enough to remove the stone by breaking it in two with a large 
pair of forceps that I had made for the occasion, as I could not 
get a pair that were strong enough. After removing the stone I 
made an examination of the bladder and found its walls consider¬ 
ably thickened, with the mucous membrane roughened; washed 
out the organ with tepid water; gave anodynes, with laxatives. 
The case did well, the animal going to work on the sixth day 
after the operation. 
STRICTURE OF THE RECTUM. 
By the Same. 
On April 27th I had a call to sec a mare that the messenger 
said could not evacuate her faeces and was suffering considerable 
pain. After arriving at the place and getting a complete history 
of the case, I found that it had been one of inversion of the 
rectum. About three weeks before my being called, the mare had 
been treated by a veterinary surgeon who went on the principle of 
letting nature take its own course, which is very good in some, but 
will not do in all cases. 
I proceeded to make an examination of the rectum, which 
caused her considerable pain, as she had not evacuated the gut since 
the day before, the owner, Mr. Samuel Caldwell, telling me he 
usually raked her night and morning. I found a constriction of 
the gut of a fibrous nature about midway of the rectum about two 
inches wide, closing the gut, so that I had to use some force. 
After having removed the fajces to get my hand through the 
stricture, I tried various methods to reduce the stricture, by dila 
tion, medicine, etc., but failed in all. I then made up my mind to 
divide the stricture, never having seen a case before. With my 
left hand in the vagina and my right in the rectum 1 made an in¬ 
cision through the interior part of the stricture until I could fee 1 
the edges of the scalpel through the gut; I also made two lateral 
cuts. After the operation, in about three hours, the patient had a 
