136 ANIMAL CASTRATION. 



hemorrhage. The scraping and the torsion are safer, 

 and in some instances the ligature has been applied. 

 The incision is closed with the interrupted or, which 

 is preferable, the continued suture. No special 

 after-treatment is required beyond low diet for a few 

 days, with a little extra attention to cleanliness. 



The operation may at times be rendered difficult 

 by exceptional and accidental conditions, as, for ex- 

 ample, the shortness of the fingers of the operator. 

 This difficulty, however, can be overcome by placing 

 a bundle of straw or other substance under the right 

 flank, which, by raising the body displaces the in- 

 testines upwards and crowds the ovary towards the 

 left flank. 



It may also happen, as sometimes with old sows, 

 that the ovary has become the seat of large cysts, 

 or that its size is increased in consequence of patho- 

 logical changes in its structure. In the first case, 

 the cyst may be punctured and emptied with a 

 trochar before attempting the obliteration of the 

 organ. In the second, the opening into the abdomen 

 must be enlarged sufficiently to permit the exit of 

 the extra bulk. 



If through inadvertence the operation has been 

 begun while the animal is in a state of pregnancy, 

 the proceeding must be discontinued, the patient 

 kept quiet and the matter indefinitely postponed. 



DOGS. 



The male is altered by either the process of ex- 



