Catgut
Catgut is a type of cord[1] that is prepared from the natural fiber in the walls of animal intestines.[2] Usually sheep or goat intestines are used, but it is occasionally made from the intestines of a hog, horse, mule, pig or donkey. Although one could conceivably prepare catgut from cat intestines, the name neither implies nor derives from any association with cats.
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Etymology
The word catgut may have been an abbreviation of the word "cattlegut". Alternatively, it may have derived by folk etymology from kitgut or kitstring -- the word kit, meaning fiddle, having at some point been confused with the word kitty for little cat. [3] A third theory is that violinists used the term "catgut" in order to protect the secret behind their strings, as cats were considered taboo during the Middle Ages.
Production
In order to prepare catgut, the intestines are cleaned, freed from fat, and steeped for some time in water. After that, the external membrane is scraped off with a blunt knife. The intestines are then once again steeped for some time, in an alkaline lye, and then smoothed and equalized by drawing out. Next, they are subjected to the antiseptic action of the fumes of burning sulphur, dyed if necessary, sorted into sizes, and twisted together into cords of various numbers of strands according to their uses. The best strings for musical instruments are reputedly from Italy, and are called “Roman strings.” It is found that lean animals yield the toughest gut.[4]
Common uses
For a long time, catgut was the most common material for the strings of harps, violins, and viols, as well as other stringed musical instruments, although most musical instruments produced today use strings with cores made of other materials, generally steel or synthetic. Catgut is still used as a high-performance string in tennis racquets, although it had more popularity in the past and is being displaced by synthetic strings. Other uses of catgut include hanging the weights of clocks and for bow-strings.
In addition, catgut was once a widely used material in surgical sutures. However, there is currently some debate about whether to continue using catgut in a medical setting, seeing as cotton has proved to be cheaper and wounds sewed using cotton or synthetic thread are less prone to infection. However, catgut sutures continued to be used in developing countries due to cheaper prices.[5]
References
- ^ [1] "[T]here is no such thing as crude catgut or catgut unmanufactured. Catgut is a manufactured article and a finished product; the crude form are the intestines or guts of sheep or other animals"
- ^ [2] "Catgut sutures are derived from the submucosal layer of the small intestine of sheep and the serosal layer of the small intestine of cattle"
- ^ Theraputic Gazette
- ^ Workshop Companion
- ^ Cotton vs Catgut
- This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica, Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.