HORSE— CARE AND MANAGEMENT. 



127 



James' blister, which is very mild, and 

 useful for trifling diseases of the legs, or 

 for bringing on the hair after " broken 

 knee," can generally be used without a 

 cradle ; but even with it horses will some- 

 times gnaw themselves, and it is better 

 not to run any risk. At the end of a 

 week, some , neatsfoot oil should be ap- 

 plied every morning, with a feather or 

 soft brush, to keep the scabs as supple as 

 possible. The various formulas for blis- 

 ters will be given in the list of Domestic 

 Animals, Medicines for. 



HORSE, Castration. — For removing 

 the testicles several methods of operation 

 have been proposed ; but hitherto none 

 has been tried which is so successful as 

 the old plan, in which the division of the 

 cord is performed by a heated iron with a 

 sharp edge. In human surgery the sper- 

 matic artery is tied, and all danger of 

 haemorrhage is over, because the small 

 amount of bleeding which takes place 

 from the artery of the cord is of no con- 

 sequence, as it cannot enter the cavity of 

 the peritoneum. In the horse, on the 

 other hand, the inguinal canal communi- 

 cates with that cavity, and if the ligature 

 is used, there is a double danger of in- 

 flammation — first, from effused blood; and 

 secondly, from the irritation of the ends 

 of the ligature. This plan, therefore, is 

 now generally abandoned, though some 

 few practitioners still adhere to it, and the 

 choice rests between two methods of re- 

 moval by cautery, namely, the actual and 

 potential — the former giving more pain 

 at the moment when the heated iron is 

 applied, but the latter being really far 

 more severe, as the caustic is a long time 

 in effecting a complete death of the nerve 

 and other sensitive parts. Torsion of the 

 vessels has been also tried, but it is often 

 followed by haemorrhage, and, moreover, 

 the pain which is caused during the twist- 

 ing of the artery is apparently quite as 

 great as is given by the heated iron. We 

 are all inclined to fancy that fire occasions 

 more agony than it really does, but those 

 who have in their own persons been un- 

 fortunately able to compare the effects of 

 the two kinds of cautery, have uniformly 

 admitted that the actual is less severe than 

 the potential, if the two are used so as to 

 produce the same amount of cauterization. 

 The best period for performing the 

 operation on the foal is just before wean- 



ing, provided the weather is mild. If, 

 however, his neck is very light, and the 

 withers low, its postponement till the fol- 

 lowing spring will give a better chance 

 for the development of these parts. The 

 cold of winter and heat of summer are 

 both prejudicial, and the months of April, 

 May, September, or October should 

 always be selected. 



No preparation is required in the 

 " sucker," but after weaning, the system 

 always requires cooling by a dose of 

 physic and light food before castration 

 can safely be performed. Horses which 

 have been in training, or other kind of 

 work attended with high feeding, require 

 at least three weeks' or a month's rest and 

 lowering, by removing corn, mashing, &c, 

 together with a couple of doses of physic, 

 before they are fit to be castrated. 



For the ordinary method of operating, a 

 pair of clams should be provided, lined at 

 the surfaces where the compression is 

 made, with thick layers of vulcanized 

 india-rubber. This material gives a very 

 fiim hold without bruising the cord, 

 and causing thereby inflammation. A 

 large scalpel and a couple of irons will 

 complete the list of instruments, over and 

 above the apparatus necessary for casting 

 the horse. (See Casting.) The horse 

 being properly secured according to the 

 directions there given, and a twitch being 

 put on the lip in case he should struggle 

 much, the operator, kneeling on the left 

 side, grasps the testicle so as to make the 

 skin of the scrotum covering it quite tense. 

 A longitudinal incision, about three inches 

 long, is then made down to the testicle, 

 which, if care has been taken that there is 

 no rupture, may be rapidly done — a 

 wound of its surface not being of the 

 slightest consequence, and giving far less 

 pain than the slow niggling dissection of 

 its coverings, which is sometimes practised 

 to avoid it. The testicle can now be 

 cleared of its coverings, and the hand 

 laying hold of it gently, the operator 

 raises it from its bed, and slips the clams 

 on each side of the cord, at once mak- 

 ing the proper pressure with them, which 

 should be sufficient to prevent all risk of 

 the part inclosed slipping from between 

 its jaws. Great care should be taken that 

 the whole of the testicle, including the 

 epididimis, is external . to the clams ; and 

 as soon as this is satisfactorily ascertained, 



