His disorder was an oedematous affection of the wind-pipe, contracted by exposure during a long ride in a snowstorm, and aggravated by neglect and by such contemporary remedies as bleeding, gargles of "molasses, vinegar and butter" and "vinegar and sage tea," which "almost suffocated him," and a blister of cantharides.
However the distended small bowel is likely to be oedematous, fragile and hypoxic, making the anastomosis more hazardous.