ANIMAL CASTRATION. 109 



earlier period the great objection originally urged 

 against castration, that its performance would tend 

 to the diminution of the stock in numbers or " pop- 

 ulation," might find more or less confirmation. But 

 by an observance of this condition all danger of the 

 annihilation of stock would be obviated. The cow 

 to be operated on ought to be in fair condition, not 

 in heat or pregnant, and the time selected should 

 be from forty to sixty days after calving. 



ANATOMY. 



The vagina is situated within the pelvic cavity, be- 

 tween the rectum and the bladder. Its. internal face 

 presents numerous longitudinal folds, the purpose 

 of which is to permit the free dilatation of the parts. 

 At the bottom of the passage is situated the neck of 

 the uterus, giving to the finger the sensation of. a pro- 

 jection, hard towards the cavity of the vagina, and 

 in the centre of which is felt a closed opening, from 

 which radiate the folds of the mucous membrane. 

 The uterus (Figs. 27 and 28), continued forward to the 

 neck, is situated in the abdominal cavity, occupying 

 the sub-lumbar region, with its posterior extremity 

 resting at the end of the pelvic cavity. It is somewhat 

 pyriform in shape, and larger at its base, where it di- 

 vides into two lateral halves, continued by the horns. 

 The concave curvature of these horns look downward 

 in the cow, but face upwards in the mare. In both 

 they give attachment to the broad ligaments. These 

 are folds of the peritoneum, more developed for- 

 ward than behind, rising from the sub-lumbar re- 



