In cases of imperforate anus, an opening into the " blad- der " or " urethra" is occasionally reported ; but, so far as I have seen, an opening into the membranous portion of the urethra is always found in an ordinary case of imper- forate anus in the male subject. In extraordinary cases, or where there is great malformation of the internal organs, the opening may be into the fundus of the bladder, or there may be a great deficiency of the large intestine, and no opening at all. The opening is usually small, but easily enough demonstrated, if the rectum is inflated under water, after washing it out, and opening the bladder and urethra. The above general remark was made, and founded upon the observation of six cases, when the Catalogue of the Med. Society's Cabinet was published, in 1847 ; and sev- eral others have since been met with.
When the anus is imperforate in the female, the rectum opens into the vagina ; and this opening seems to corre- spond to that in the male subject, the membranous portion of the urethra being the genital portion of the urinary canal.
In an analysis, by Mr. Curling, of one hundred cases of " Congenital Imperfections of the Eectum," with reference to an operation (Med. Chir. Trans. Vol. XLIII. p. 276), he gives twenty-six, in which the intestine opened into the urethra, or neck of the bladder ; and he remarks that there were " very probably more, as the opening is sometimes so minute as to prevent the free escape of meconium during life."
677. Imperforate anus in a pig, that appeared perfectly healthy, and was killed on the nineteenth day from birth. The rec- tum ends in a cul-de-sac ; but between one and two inches from its extremity a short, dense, rounded cord connects it with the urethra at about the same distance from the bladder. The bladder and urethra having been cut open, this cord was found to be pervious, though air could not readily be forced through from the rectum. In spirit.
One of the other pigs, in the litter of eight or ten, had the anus imperforate, but the others were well formed. In a previous litter, the sow had borne a female, in which the
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