Isaac Jackson, a negro, aged 30 (?), native of Mississippi, a laborer by occupation, was admitted to the City Hospital, Memphis, Tenn., on the evening of August 25, 1886, for inability to pass his urine. An attempt was made by the Interne, Dr. John Fricke, to introduce a catheter, but a stricture near the meatus prevented the passage of the instrument. As there was a constant dribbling of urine from the urethra, thus partially relieving the over-distended bladder, no further operative interference was attempted that night.
As I was temporarily acting for the surgeon in charge of the hospital, the case came under my observation on August 26. The patient was a tall, muscular negro; his face wore an anxious expression; but slight febrile movement; the bladder was over-distended, reaching to within four centimetres of the umbilicus, and was distinctly noticeable as a large globular tumor beneath the abdominal parietes. The