COMPARATIVE PATHOLOGY. 
149 
size of the urethra, I successively tried the smallest horse catheter 
I had, then the catheter of the human stomach pump, then the 
smallest bougie I could rind, but I had to give up the attempt. 
The penis being drawn into the sheath, and being unable to 
bring it out, no idea of the size, or of the location of the open¬ 
ing of the urethra could be obtained. Failing in this attempt, I 
decided to open the bladder by rectum, which I did by aspiration, 
removing about seventy ounces of dark, bloody urine. This 
seemed to give him much relief, and after administering a strong 
cathartic of oil and sulphate of soda, with prescription of rectal 
injections, I left my patient. 
On the following day he was in about the same condition, had 
passed no fmces, no urine, but seemed to strain less to micturate. 
The bladder was full again, and again relieved by aspiration of 
forty ounces of urine of better appearance; the cathartic is re¬ 
newed. 
On the 23d, in the morning, I found him laying down, and 
in dying condition. 
The post mortem was made a few hours afterwards. The 
abdominal cavity contained a large quantity of fluid, and the 
colon was filled with hard fcecal matter. The principal lesions 
were found in the urinary apparatus. The pelvis of the right 
kidney, which was very large, contained a peculiarly shaped cal¬ 
culus, greatly resembling a navicular bone, with one face quite 
smooth j|rid slightly convex, the other having in its centre a little 
projection extending in the ureter. It weighed six grammes. 
This kidney was much enlarged, congested and softened. The 
bladder had a small quantity of clear urine. The mucous mem¬ 
brane was healthy, and showed the two points of puncture made 
by the aspirator in the upper wall of that organ. The urethra 
was found to be. at the meatus, of the width of a knitting needle, 
anfl when a small probe was introduced through it, directly under 
the prostate, resistance was felt, and a little calculus of the size 
of the head of a pin was found imbedded in the canal, closing 
it up entirely. Going towards the free extremity of the urethra, 
this canal was noticed to become smaller, so that at its end it was 
the size of a pin, and at about two inches from the opening a fine 
