MEDICAL TREATMENT OF DOMESTIC ANIMALS. 50^ 



The following account of the manner in which capons are 

 made in France was prepared many years ago, for private circu- 

 lation, by a gentleman in Philadelphia who had great skill in the 

 art and whose success was admirable. I am enabled by personal 

 experience to say that if the directions are strictly adhered to there 

 is very little risk of the loss of life, and, so far as I have been able 

 to observe, no more suffering than attends the castration of calves 

 and pigs. The instruments referred to can be obtained from 

 surgical-instrument makers. With these before him, the reader 

 will readily understand the directions. 



" DIRECTIONS FOR MAKING CAPONS. 



" Fowls intended to be cut, must be kept at least twenty-four 

 " hours without food, otherwise the entrails will fill the cavity of 

 "■ the belly, and render it almost impossible to complete the opera- 

 *'tionj besides, when they have been starved the proper length of 

 "time, they are less liable to bleed. 



*' The chicken is taken at any age, from five days old until it be- 

 " gins to crow, or even after. Lay the fowl on its left side on the 

 " floor, draw the wings back, and keep it firm by resting the right 

 " foot on its legs, and the other foot or knee on its wings. (The 

 " table with the apparatus does away with the necessity of this stoop- 

 "ing position.) Be careful that the head of the fowl is not held 

 " down, or even touched during the operation, as it would be sure 

 " to cause it to bleed. Pluck the feathers off^from its right side near 

 " the hip joint, in a line between that and the shoulder joint ; the 

 " space uncovered should be a little more than an inch square. 

 " Make an incision between the last two ribs^ having first drawn the 

 "part backward, so when left to itself it will cover the wound in the 

 " flesh. In some fowls the thigh is so far forward that it covers 

 " the last two ribs ; in which case, care must be taken to draw the 

 " flesh of the thigh well, so as not to cut through it, or else it 

 " would lame the fowl, and perhaps cause its death in a few days 

 " after the operation, by inflaming. 



" The ribs are to be kept open by the hooks — the opening must 

 " be enlarged each way by the knife, if necessary, until the tes- 



