Catgut is the name applied to cord of great toughness and tenacity prepared from the Intestine - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia@@AMEPARAM@@/wiki/File:Stomach_colon_rectum_diagram.svg" class="image"><img alt="Stomach colon rectum diagram.svg" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/82/Stomach_colon_rectum_diagram.svg/252px-Stomach_colon_rectum_diagram.svg.png"@@AMEPARAM@@commons/thumb/8/82/Stomach_colon_rectum_diagram.svg/252px-Stomach_colon_rectum_diagram.svg.png of the Domestic sheep - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia@@AMEPARAM@@/wiki/File:Flock_of_sheep.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2c/Flock_of_sheep.jpg/250px-Flock_of_sheep.jpg"@@AMEPARAM@@commons/thumb/2/2c/Flock_of_sheep.jpg/250px-Flock_of_sheep.jpg or Goat - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia@@AMEPARAM@@/wiki/File:Irish_Goat.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/39/Irish_Goat.jpg/220px-Irish_Goat.jpg"@@AMEPARAM@@commons/thumb/3/39/Irish_Goat.jpg/220px-Irish_Goat.jpg, or occasionally from those of the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hog_(swine), Horse - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia@@AMEPARAM@@/wiki/File:Nokota_Horses_cropped.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/de/Nokota_Horses_cropped.jpg/250px-Nokota_Horses_cropped.jpg"@@AMEPARAM@@commons/thumb/d/de/Nokota_Horses_cropped.jpg/250px-Nokota_Horses_cropped.jpg, Mule - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia@@AMEPARAM@@/wiki/File:Juancito.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e0/Juancito.jpg/250px-Juancito.jpg"@@AMEPARAM@@commons/thumb/e/e0/Juancito.jpg/250px-Juancito.jpg, Pig - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia@@AMEPARAM@@/wiki/File:Sow_with_piglet.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/59/Sow_with_piglet.jpg/250px-Sow_with_piglet.jpg"@@AMEPARAM@@commons/thumb/5/59/Sow_with_piglet.jpg/250px-Sow_with_piglet.jpg, and Donkey - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia@@AMEPARAM@@/wiki/Fileonkey_1_arp_750px.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7b/Donkey_1_arp_750px.jpg/250px-Donkey_1_arp_750px.jpg"@@AMEPARAM@@commons/thumb/7/7b/Donkey_1_arp_750px.jpg/250px-Donkey_1_arp_750px.jpg. Those of the Cat - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia@@AMEPARAM@@/wiki/File:Collage_of_Six_Cats-01.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/58/Collage_of_Six_Cats-01.jpg/250px-Collage_of_Six_Cats-01.jpg"@@AMEPARAM@@commons/thumb/5/58/Collage_of_Six_Cats-01.jpg/250px-Collage_of_Six_Cats-01.jpg are not employed, however it is supposed that the word is properly kitgut ("violin string"), kit being derived from the ancient word "citara" or "kitara" from which comes the modern word "guitar". The present form may have arisen through confusion that kit = Cat - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia@@AMEPARAM@@/wiki/File:Collage_of_Six_Cats-01.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/58/Collage_of_Six_Cats-01.jpg/250px-Collage_of_Six_Cats-01.jpg"@@AMEPARAM@@commons/thumb/5/58/Collage_of_Six_Cats-01.jpg/250px-Collage_of_Six_Cats-01.jpg. Another explanation of the origin of the cat in catgut is that it is an abbreviation for cattle which originally denoted not only cows, but all types of Livestock - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia@@AMEPARAM@@/wiki/File:Question_book-new.svg" class="image"><img alt="Question book-new.svg" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/99/Question_book-new.svg/50px-Question_book-new.svg.png"@@AMEPARAM@@en/thumb/9/99/Question_book-new.svg/50px-Question_book-new.svg.png. For a long time, the substance was the de facto material for the Strings (music) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia@@AMEPARAM@@/wiki/File:Flatwound_01.JPG" class="image"><img alt="" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/ce/Flatwound_01.JPG/220px-Flatwound_01.JPG"@@AMEPARAM@@commons/thumb/c/ce/Flatwound_01.JPG/220px-Flatwound_01.JPG of Harp - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia@@AMEPARAM@@/wiki/File:Harp.png" class="image"><img alt="Harp.png" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4e/Harp.png/200px-Harp.png"@@AMEPARAM@@commons/thumb/4/4e/Harp.png/200px-Harp.png, Violin - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia@@AMEPARAM@@/wiki/File:Question_book-new.svg" class="image"><img alt="Question book-new.svg" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/99/Question_book-new.svg/50px-Question_book-new.svg.png"@@AMEPARAM@@en/thumb/9/99/Question_book-new.svg/50px-Question_book-new.svg.png, and Viol - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia@@AMEPARAM@@/wiki/File:Viola_da_gamba.png" class="image"><img alt="" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/75/Viola_da_gamba.png/300px-Viola_da_gamba.png"@@AMEPARAM@@commons/thumb/7/75/Viola_da_gamba.png/300px-Viola_da_gamba.png, as well as other String instrument - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia@@AMEPARAM@@/wiki/File:AGK_bass1_full.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d3/AGK_bass1_full.jpg/220px-AGK_bass1_full.jpg"@@AMEPARAM@@commons/thumb/d/d3/AGK_bass1_full.jpg/220px-AGK_bass1_full.jpg, although most musical instruments produced today utilize steel or nylon strings. Other uses of catgut include hanging the weights of Clock - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia@@AMEPARAM@@/wiki/File:Clock_in_Kings_Cross.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/bd/Clock_in_Kings_Cross.jpg/220px-Clock_in_Kings_Cross.jpg"@@AMEPARAM@@commons/thumb/b/bd/Clock_in_Kings_Cross.jpg/220px-Clock_in_Kings_Cross.jpg, for Bow (weapon) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia@@AMEPARAM@@/wiki/File:Hun_bow.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e5/Hun_bow.jpg"@@AMEPARAM@@commons/e/e5/Hun_bow.jpg-strings, and for Suture - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia@@AMEPARAM@@/wiki/Fileisambig_gray.svg" class="image"><img alt="Disambig gray.svg" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5f/Disambig_gray.svg/30px-Disambig_gray.svg.png"@@AMEPARAM@@commons/thumb/5/5f/Disambig_gray.svg/30px-Disambig_gray.svg.png wounds in Surgery - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia@@AMEPARAM@@/wiki/File:Ambox_globe_content.svg" class="image"><img alt="Globe icon." src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/bd/Ambox_globe_content.svg/48px-Ambox_globe_content.svg.png"@@AMEPARAM@@commons/thumb/b/bd/Ambox_globe_content.svg/48px-Ambox_globe_content.svg.png. Catgut is famous for having the Punjab lasso used by the Phantom, in "Phantom of the Opera", made from it. To prepare it, the intestines are cleaned, freed from fat, and steeped for some time in water, after which their external membrane is scraped off with a blunt knife. They are then Steeping - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia@@AMEPARAM@@/wiki/File:Tea_leaves_steeping_in_a_zhong_%C4%8Daj_05.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/cb/Tea_leaves_steeping_in_a_zhong_%C4%8Daj_05.jpg/200px-Tea_leaves_steeping_in_a_zhong_%C4%8Daj_05.jpg"@@AMEPARAM@@commons/thumb/c/cb/Tea_leaves_steeping_in_a_zhong_%C4%8Daj_05.jpg/200px-Tea_leaves_steeping_in_a_zhong_%C4%8Daj_05.jpg for some time in an Alkali - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia@@AMEPARAM@@/wiki/File:Question_book-new.svg" class="image"><img alt="Question book-new.svg" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/99/Question_book-new.svg/50px-Question_book-new.svg.png"@@AMEPARAM@@en/thumb/9/99/Question_book-new.svg/50px-Question_book-new.svg.png Sodium hydroxide - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia@@AMEPARAM@@/wiki/File:Mergefrom.svg" class="image"><img alt="Mergefrom.svg" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0f/Mergefrom.svg/50px-Mergefrom.svg.png"@@AMEPARAM@@commons/thumb/0/0f/Mergefrom.svg/50px-Mergefrom.svg.png, smoothed and equalized by drawing out, subjected to the Antiseptic - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia action of the fumes of burning Sulfur - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia@@AMEPARAM@@/wiki/Filerthorhombic.svg" class="image" title="Sulfur has a orthorhombic crystal structure"><img alt="Sulfur has a orthorhombic crystal structure" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/dd/Orthorhombic.svg/26px-Orthorhombic.svg.png"@@AMEPARAM@@commons/thumb/d/dd/Orthorhombic.svg/26px-Orthorhombic.svg.png, if necessary dyed, sorted into sizes, and twisted together into cords of various numbers of strands according to their uses. The best strings for Musical instrument - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia@@AMEPARAM@@/wiki/File:Image-Divje01.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/b/b6/Image-Divje01.jpg/220px-Image-Divje01.jpg"@@AMEPARAM@@en/thumb/b/b6/Image-Divje01.jpg/220px-Image-Divje01.jpg are reputedly from Italy - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia@@AMEPARAM@@/wiki/File:Flag_of_Italy.svg" class="image" title="Flag of Italy"><img alt="" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/03/Flag_of_Italy.svg/125px-Flag_of_Italy.svg.png"@@AMEPARAM@@commons/thumb/0/03/Flag_of_Italy.svg/125px-Flag_of_Italy.svg.png ("Roman strings"); and it is found that lean and ill-fed animals yield the toughest gut. Catgut was in use for producing strings for many centuries, and the Medicine in medieval Islam - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia@@AMEPARAM@@/wiki/File:Mansur1911.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/6/60/Mansur1911.jpg/250px-Mansur1911.jpg"@@AMEPARAM@@en/thumb/6/60/Mansur1911.jpg/250px-Mansur1911.jpg al-Zahrawi utilized it as a Surgical instrument - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia@@AMEPARAM@@/wiki/File:Various_scalpels.png" class="image"><img alt="" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/92/Various_scalpels.png/220px-Various_scalpels.png"@@AMEPARAM@@commons/thumb/9/92/Various_scalpels.png/220px-Various_scalpels.png in the 10th century, but its use in the Western world - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia@@AMEPARAM@@/wiki/File:V%C3%A4steuropa-karta.png" class="image"><img alt="" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0e/V%C3%A4steuropa-karta.png/250px-V%C3%A4steuropa-karta.png"@@AMEPARAM@@commons/thumb/0/0e/V%C3%A4steuropa-karta.png/250px-V%C3%A4steuropa-karta.png medical field did not become popular until the 19th century. It replaced Silk - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia@@AMEPARAM@@/wiki/File:Meyers_b14_s0826a.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8f/Meyers_b14_s0826a.jpg/220px-Meyers_b14_s0826a.jpg"@@AMEPARAM@@commons/thumb/8/8f/Meyers_b14_s0826a.jpg/220px-Meyers_b14_s0826a.jpg and Hemp - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia@@AMEPARAM@@/wiki/File:Cannab2_new.png" class="image"><img alt="" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b3/Cannab2_new.png/220px-Cannab2_new.png"@@AMEPARAM@@commons/thumb/b/b3/Cannab2_new.png/220px-Cannab2_new.png Suture - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia@@AMEPARAM@@/wiki/Fileisambig_gray.svg" class="image"><img alt="Disambig gray.svg" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5f/Disambig_gray.svg/30px-Disambig_gray.svg.png"@@AMEPARAM@@commons/thumb/5/5f/Disambig_gray.svg/30px-Disambig_gray.svg.png which caused inflammation and severe hemorrhage because the body could not absorb them. Sutures made from catgut are readily absorbed by the human body and are consequently extensively used for internal stitches. Although Synthetic fiber - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia@@AMEPARAM@@/wiki/File:Hanfstengel.jpg" class="image" title="Hemp stem fibre"><img alt="Hemp stem fibre" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2d/Hanfstengel.jpg/100px-Hanfstengel.jpg"@@AMEPARAM@@commons/thumb/2/2d/Hanfstengel.jpg/100px-Hanfstengel.jpg alternatives are available, catgut sutures are still widely used in hospitals throughout the world. In rare cases, catgut stitches can cause inflammation and be rejected by the body rather than absorbed.
Gut was also used for stringing tennis racquets and similar (badminton, for example) and for tools on drafting boards to guide parallels up and down the boards. As recently as 20 years ago, I used such on a design project. Both uses are now obsolete, there are better and less expensive materials in use.
That may be so but with the petroleum market being what it is and in the event of a catastrophic event, it might be nice to know about alternatives.
Point taken, especially if we can accumulate the necessary treating stuff. I've been thinking along the idea of very light monofilament fishing lines. While not absorbed internally, needing deep sutures is going to be high enough hazard that leaving monofilament in until serious medical help can be found seems worth the risk. Any sewing I do will result in heavy scarring anyway. One can sterilize monofilament with alcohol as needed (if there is any left .)
You can also keep an eye on places like cheaperthandirt.com and a lot of the time can come up with sutures in their steril pouches. From stuff like than and saveing the unopened left overs they brought out (and would have otherwise discarded and charged me for anyhow) when I have gotten sewed up, I have about 4-5 sets of surface sutures and 3-4 sets of internal sutures and each set dose like 5 or so stitches. Kept the forceps and most of the other tools the last time too, still wish I had grabbed the coterizing pen they used and they toss out because its no longer 'sterile' though the part that touches you heats to glowing red hot.
