THE HORSE. 757 



different troubles combined; or both concentrate their action on the saftne point, and the 

 extension of the diseased action to the susceptible structures of the abdomen too often 

 precipitates a fatal result. Thus strangles, so common in young horses, causes a low type of 

 inflammation in the groin, with exudations, adhesions, abscesses, and even gangrene. Gland 

 ers, too, is attended by the development of the glanderous material in the wound and else 

 where, and always by a fatal issue. Scarcely less injurious are influenza, catarrhal fever, 

 bilious fevers, etc., etc., the seeds of which find a fertile field for their development in the 

 system fevered by the operation. 



The system most favorable to success is one in high condition, with full, hard muscles ; 

 clear, bright, prominent eye; smooth, sleek, healthy coat; pulse full, strong, and regular; 

 and spirit lively and ardent. The best condition is, in short, that of the trained animal, in 

 which the wounds heal with that marvelous rapidity which we see in the athlete or race 

 horse. It is not the fat animal, soft, flabby, and deficient in endurance, but the one that is 

 all muscle and sinew, and that will not tire. Yet, even with this, it is important to give daily 

 exercise after the operation. If kept up in a stall, the animal accustomed to regular exertion 

 quickly becomes plethoric, and thus his great powers of digestion and assimilation conduce 

 to unhealthy rather than healthy action in the wound. If such an animal must stand in the 

 stable after the operation, his fine condition will be rather prejudicial, and should be reduced 

 somewhat by a dose of physic prior to the operation, and a restricted diet after. A very fat 

 animal may be advantageously treated in the same way. The very poor are liable to have 

 the healing process retarded, and to have a low type of inflammation in the wound, with 

 extensive swelling, gangrene, or inflammation of the lining membrane of the abdomen, or, in 

 less redoubtable cases, local abscess, or tumor of the cord. These should have their condition 

 improved before they are castrated. 



No male should be castrated until it has been ascertained-whether there is any hernia 

 (rupture) into the scrotum. The sack of the scrotum should contain nothing besides the 

 testicles. Any descent of abdominal organ may be felt at the front and sides of the testicle, 

 and the thickening will be continued upward beside the cord into the abdomen. If pressed, 

 it will return slowly atfirst, and then suddenly and completely. Such subjects should be 

 left to the veterinarian for a special operation. 



The Surroundings. The season is a most important consideration. In pigs and other 

 animals that tend to heal by adhesion of the lips of the wound, and without the formation of 

 matter, a cool or even a cold season is not prohibitory; but in the horse, in which all wounds 

 tend to form matter, and where the dangers of inflammation extending to the abdomen are 

 so great, a temperate or even warm season is the best. The end of April or May is usually 

 preferable as being mild, but not hot, and at the same time equable. From July onward the 

 intense heats unduly favor putrefaction in the products of the wound, and excessive swelling 

 in its walls. At this season, too, flies prove a source of great annoyance, and are even liable 

 to infect and poison the sore by coming direct from carrion or diseased surfaces. So long as 

 the nights are liable to be frosty or very cold, colts should not be castrated, unless they can 

 be stabled and protected. In all cases the newly-castrated animal should be protected against 

 cold rains or dews, drafts of cold air in buildings, large drinks of ice-cold water, and damp 

 bedding. Wet weather, but above all that which is characterized by a succession of thunder 

 storms, is to be feared, not alone because of the danger of wetting and chill, but because at 

 such times there is a special tendency to rapid decomposition in all dead organic matter, and 

 therefore to putrefaction in the secretions of the wounds. This tendency is familiar in the 

 souring of milk or dough, and in the penetrating smells that rise from any accumulation of 

 damp vegetable rubbish. In such a season, therefore, the operation should be deferred until 

 the return of steady, clear weather. 



For reasons similar to the above, crowded, close, ill-ventilated, and uncleanly buildings 



