758 THE AMERICAN FARMER. 



are most dangerous, and animals from such places are best kept for some time in more 

 healthy quarters prior to castration. The vicinity of slaughter-houses, rendering- works, dis 

 secting-rooms, manure-manufactories, decomposing dung-heaps, etc., are to be avoided as 

 calculated to induce unhealthy action and gangrene. 



The Operator. The castrator should avoid all dead, decomposing, or unhealthy animal 

 matter. Suppurating wounds, but especially those not doing well, cases of difficult parturi 

 tion, dead bodies, and all unmanufactured animal products should be carefully avoided. If 

 the operator has run the risk of such contamination, he should wash his hands thoroughly in 

 water containing some carbolic acid or chloride of lime, fumigate his clothes with the smoke 

 of burning sulphur, and allow at least twenty-four hours to elapse before he proceeds to 

 operate. The most scrupulous cleanliness of all instruments is no less essential, as valuable 

 animals are often lost through the retention on these of invisible particles in a state of putre 

 faction.&quot; 



The Operation. This very delicate operation, and the one attended with so much risk 

 to the life of the animal, requires much care and skill on the part of the operator to result 

 successfully, as animals often suffer severely and sometimes die from the effects of an unskill 

 ful operation, change of weather, or other unfavorable conditions. W. H. Herbert asserts 

 that &quot; it should never be attempted on a living subject except by a person of experience and 

 skill,&quot; in which opinion we fully concur. It will certainly be much safer and more economi 

 cal in the end to employ the services of an intelligent and skillful veterinarian, than for a 

 farmer to attempt to do it himself, unless he has a good knowledge of and experience in 

 such cases. No one should think of attempting it who does not possess these requisites. 

 The use of chloroform will be found highly beneficial in such operations, and should always 

 be employed, as it is more humane, since it obviates all pain, and also prevents the severe 

 struggles of the animal, which are often attended with serious results. 



The old method was to make an incision in the scrotum on either side and cut off the 

 testicles, and prevent bleeding by a temporary compression of the cords while they were 

 seared with a hot iron. This was a terribly painful process for the^animal to undergo, and 

 is now generally abandoned for the more humane and improved method. 



The new method of castrating with the ecraseur is a great improvement upon the old, 

 and also very simple, especially to a person having any experience with the old. 



In operating, an incision is made through the subcutaneous tissues, which thus exposes the 

 testicle. The chain of the ecraseur is then placed over that portion of the cord intended to be 

 severed, and the instrument gradually tightened until the cord is completely severed. This 

 should be done gradually and very carefully. But very little hemorrhage will follow, if it is 

 performed with care. Sometimes tying is resorted to to prevent bleeding. 



Another method is by torsion, and is described by Youatt as follows: &quot;An incision is 

 made into the scrotum, and the vas defer ens is exposed and divided. The artery is then 

 seized with a pair of forceps contrived for the purpose and twisted six or seven times around. 

 It retracts without untwisting the coils, and the bleeding ceases; the testicle is removed, and 

 there is no sloughing, or danger. The most painful part of the operation, that with the firing 

 iron or the clamp, is avoided, and the wound readily heals.&quot; 



The old method of castrating with the clamp is an extremely cruel one, and should be 

 forever abolished. 



Castrating horses designed for farm, carriage, and general-purpose use, is commonly 

 practiced in this country and England, as they are thus more docile and more easily man 

 aged; but in France and in Oriental countries castration is rarely performed, as they are 

 thought to be more hardy and possess greater courage and endurance without it. 



