Following complete obstructions of the upper part of the intestine in the dog, life may be prolonged for three or four weeks in a large number of such animals when saline is administered subcutaneously. If the administration of saline is interrupted after five or six days, the animals will often live as long as when saline is administered daily until the death of the animal.1 When saline is not administered, death usually occurs within three or four days, and an elevation of the blood urea, decrease of the plasma chlorides and an increase in the combining power of the blood for carbon dioxide occur. The administration of saline precludes the development of these chemical changes in the blood. The saline serves as an effectual antidote, not for a toxin absorbed, but for the essential fluids lost by vomiting.
When obstruction is established in the descending colon of a dog,