Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1884-02-01
The KangarOO's Tail.


times utilizes everything, has found a
new service for the remarkable append.
age which makes the kangaroo one OF
the strangest members of the animal
kingdom. Surgery has been practical.
ly revolutionized in the last decade,
and one of its most important advances
has been made in the tying of blood
vessels and the closurasDf wounds with
the tendons of animals. 1t has been
determined that animal tissue properly
prepared may be inclosed in wounds
and become so changed that it is uiti-
mately replaced by living tissue. and
this, in its practical bearing. is one OF
the most important contributions to
modern surgery. Catgut thus prepared
and applied came into u very wide use,
and at first seemed all that could be de-
sired. The connective tissue bundles
of which il is composed are much less
strong and trustworthy. The tendons
of the large animals were brought in-
to use and found much more service.
able.
Many experiments have been made in
this direction. and knowledge was
sought from the Indian tribes who have
long used these materials in the place
of thread in the sewing together of skins
for tents, robes, making of clothing,
etc. The tendOns from the tail of the
squirrel were found composed of long
parallel fibers, and could be split as fine
and even as floss silk. These, however,
were not large and long enough for
most surgical purposes, and the
thought arose that the immense tail OF
the kangaroo would furnish tendons OF
size and strength sufficient for any pur-
pose. Through the kindness of Mr..
AlonzO Ii. Newell, of Boston, for many
years a prominent merchant in
Australia, n supply of these tendons
was secured some years since. and
have beer used quite extensively by the
SUI gical profession. For such pur-
poses they are far better than
those of any other animal, not
excepting the great Northern moose OF
America. The tail of the whale fur
niShes tendons of remarkable length
and size, but they are fatty and fray
out, and on this account can only be
used as ligatures of the larger size. The
tendons of the tail of the Kangaroo can
easily be split into threads two feet in
length, rivaling silk in strength, soft
ness, fineness. beauty of color and fin
ish. Such tendons for ligatures or suit
ures promise to supplant silk almost
entirely in surgery. They are of a com
mercial value, which should cause this
innocent, innoffensive animal to be
considered as a friend rather than an
enemy of mankind. and not to be
slaughtered because it consumes little
of the superintendent pastu age of Aus
tralia enormous ranges. When killed
these tendons should be carefully pre-
served, split in the fresh state, quite be-
fore any decomposition has enSued, in
to bundles of thread of different sizes,
and dried.
They keep perfectly well in this CON
ditiOn, and this is the only prepare
ton required to make them an
article of expectation. 1t is with
difficulty that they can now be
obtained, except In London, and
they would find ready sale in every
commercial center of the world. DIR.
Henry o. Marcy, of Boston, in an arti-
Gle upon the animal ligaturc, published
in the New England Medical Monthly,
says: "Tendons from the tail of the
kangaroo have proved the most sat
isfactory of any yet tried, after ex-
perimentation with those of many
animals, since they are of sufficient
length and size for any purpose, and
yet may be split very fine and even,
when dried. they closely resembling in
appearance the silkworm gut. There
can be little doubt that these tendons.
antiseptically prepared with care, offer
certain marked advantages over catgui
cit er for ligature or suture, where it is
important to have them remain in the
tissues unchanged for considerable
period. In modern wound treatment
the carbolized animal lgature fills 8
place of the greatest Importance in con.
junction with and second only to drain.
age and antiseptic protection. Dos
ton Advertiser