The Columbus journal., 1884-04-02
The kangarOO'S Tail.

Science, which in these modern
times utilities 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
" revolutionized in the last decade,
and one of its most important advances
has been made in the tying Of blood
vessels and the closure of wounds with
the tendons of animals. 1t has been
determined hat animal tissue properly
prepared may be inciosed in wounds
and become so changed that it is uiti-
matefy 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 a very wide use.
and at first seemed all that could be de-
sired. The connective tissue bundles
of which it 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 tinc
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 MIR.
AlOnzO H. Newell, of Boston, for many
years a prominent merchant in
Australia, a supply of these tendOns
was secured some years since. and
have beer used quite extensively by tho
surgical 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
ish. Such tendons for ligatures or SUIT
ures promise. to supplant silk almost
entirely in surgery. They are of a CON-
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 u a little
of the superintendent pasturage of Aus
~tralia's 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 prepara-
ton required to make them IN
article of expectation. 1t is with
obtained, except IN London, and
they would find ready sale in every
commercial center of the world. DR..
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 tho
kangaroo have proved the most sat-
isfactory of any yet tried. after eN.
Fermentation 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
a be little doubt that these tendons,
antiseptically prepared with care, offer
certain marked advantages over catgut
either for ligature or suture, where it is
important to have them remain in the
tissues unchanged for a considerable
period. In modern wound treatment
the carbolized animal ligature fills q
place of the greatest importance in con-
junction with and second only to drain
age and antiseptic protection."--Bos-
Eon advertiser