12 ANIMAL CASTRA1ION. 



of the shoulder, and there secured by two or three 

 turns of the rope around the coronet. 



Buc it often occurs that in this position the inguinal 

 region is not sufficiently exposed, and some of the 

 steps of the operation may thus be rendered difficult, 

 even when the surgeon has taken the precaution to 

 pose the body of the patient and place him partly on 

 his back, by means of bundles of straw pressed under 

 the side upon which he lies. Many operators prefer 

 the use of the double side line, with which, when the 

 animal is thrown, both hind legs are brought forward 

 together, and he is fixed squarely upon his back, and 

 the inguinal region thus brought distinctly into view. 

 The manipulation is thereby made easier for the sur- 

 geon, and, it is claimed, safer for the patient. The 

 possibility of danger attending these methods has 

 led many veterinarians in Europe, and in the United 

 States as well, to prefer the operation with the ani- 

 mal in the standing posture. But it is to be con- 

 sidered that the same complications may rise in all 

 instances, with the exception of apprehended injury 

 to the vertebral column, which, though possible, is 

 almost unknown, in fact, at the usual age of the cas- 

 trated animal. It is to be considered, likewise, that 

 the animal, on his feet, is free to struggle as violently 

 as he wishes, and is thus exposed to the risk of the 

 pulling and laceration of the spermatic cord, and a 

 resulting predisposition to enlargements of that body 

 and the formation of champignons. When it is con- 

 sidered, again, that by the traction of the cord the 

 superior opening of the inguinal canal is necessarily 



