1S35.] 



FARMERS' REGISTER 



167 



cow, which was intended to be sacrificed to illus- 

 trate the coarse of instruction. This cow not 

 giving milk, my object could not be completely at- 

 tained. Nevertheless, it was no small gain to have 

 i the manual part of this operation, and to 

 have assured mys Jf of its pathological effect, in 

 order to be able, on i lie one hand, to practice this 

 operation with assurance, and on the oilier, to in- 

 s | • i re with more confidence the owners of cows 

 who might be willing to make the trial. My attempt 

 was quite successful. The cow operated on did 

 not seem to be made sick by it: during the two 

 days which followed the operation she appeared 

 rather drooping [un peu tristej"] but by the third 

 day she was as lively as before, and returned to 

 sual habits. 



"The object then was to perform the operation 

 on cows that were in the condition indicated by Mr. 

 Winn, that is to say, a month alter their second or 

 third calving. 



"M. Francillon Michaud, to whom I gave in- 

 formation of this discovery, was desirous of sub- 

 mitting one of his cows to the experiment. This 

 cow, six years old, then had her third calf. The 

 preceding years, she had given, soon after her 

 calving, eight quarts [pnte]* of milk, and six quarts 

 at a later period. This cow was operated on, 

 June 23d, 1833, thirty-eight days atler calving. 

 The consequent sickness was but slight: only it 

 was observed that during the two days which fol- 

 lowed the operation she had less appetite: her milk 

 was lessened four quarts — but the third day she 

 recovered her appetite, her liveliness, and returned 

 to her previous quantity of milk. During the 

 whole summer she continued to give about nine 

 quarts; and since the supply of green food has 

 ceased, and she has been kept on dry forage, she 

 has kept at seven quarts — while the preceding 

 years, as before stated, she gave [under like cir- 

 cumstances] but six quarts. 



"Encouraged by this first success, M. Francil- 

 lon requested me to make a second trial. For this, 

 he chose an old cow, that yielded milk abundantly, 

 in order to form a judgement of this operation upon 

 aged cows. This one was twelve years old, and 

 had produced twin calves on the 17th of October, 

 and had sustained injury in giving them birth. 

 She had yielded, in preceding years, on an aver- 

 age, eiffht quarts of milk. She was spayed on 

 Nov. 18th, thirty-three days after calving. She 

 gave at that time twelve quarts of milk. After 

 the operation she lost three quarts: but it is pro- 

 per to state that this cow has a discharge of mat- 

 ter from the womb, and that she neither eats nor 

 digests as usual, and that it will be otherwise 

 •when she is in good health. f 



"The authors of the article upon the spaying of 

 the cow have not directed the manual part of the 

 operation; yet it is so much the more important to 



*This measure (pot) is equal to two French pints — 

 but still may be different from two American pints, as 

 rendered above. No mistake in this respect, however, 

 will affect the comparison of quantities yielded before 

 and after the operations. — Ed. F. R. 



tit may be supposed that the time of year, and con- 

 sequent diminution of green and juicy food, also had 

 some effect in keeping down the quantity of milk in 

 this case. — Ed. F. R. 



know, as the ovaries vary in their position, accord- 

 ing to the species. I do not know that any author 

 has given the necessary directions. Daubenton 

 oken of the manner of spaying ewes, and 

 after him, Fromage of Feugre: but the practice 

 on the ewe is not ai plicable to the cow: it is there- 

 lore that I am going to describe the mode of ope- 

 ration which I have tried, and found successful. 



"The operation should be performed at from 30 

 to 38 days after the calving, upon a cow that has 

 had her second or third calf, because that is the 

 period at which a cow yields the most milk, and 

 til'ter which it may be enjoyed lor a longtime. 

 There is no precaution necessary, save that of not 

 permitting the cow to have a full meal the prece- 

 ding evening, and to operate in the morning be- 

 fore she. eats again. The things required for the 

 most convenient mode of practice, are, some cords, 

 a plank or bar of wood, two surgical knives [bis- 

 touris,] the one convex on the edge; the other 

 straight, and with a guard on the point [boutonne] 

 — two needles bent for stitching, with stout twisted 

 thread, well waxed, two pegs of dry wood, eight 

 inches long and of the diameter of about a quar- 

 ter or third of an inch. 



"Manner affixing the emu. — To be enabled to 

 operate in perfect security, it is necessary to fix the 

 animal suitably. To this end she is placed against 

 a wall, the left side turned towards the operator. 

 This wall ought to have three buckles fixed to 

 strong rings. One of these rings is for the cord 

 that confines the head; the other two should be 

 placed lower, one at the level of the lower part of 

 the. right shoulder; the other at the point of the 

 knee bone — or an assistant may hold the cord to 

 produce the intended confinement. The head is 

 fixed by the cord being tied; or otherwise held by 

 a strong assistant. Then the plank or bar is 

 placed obliquely under the udder, forward of the 

 posterior members — and is held by an assistant 

 to protect the operator from the feet of the cow. 

 The tail is also held, or it may be tied to the rope 

 which passes round the animal, to prevent the 

 blows from it which might be received (if uncon- 

 fined) when the operator introduces his arm into 

 the abdomen. 



"For want of a wall, provided with rings and 

 buckles, use may be made of a strong paling, a 

 solid gate or fence, or even of trees standing at 

 suitable distance, to which is fixed a large wooden 

 bar. 



"The animal being securely fixed, the operator 

 armed with the knile with the convex edge, 

 which he holds in his right hand, places himself 

 near the left shoulder of the cow, the left hand ap- 

 plied to her back: this hand gives a point of sup- 

 port to lean on, if made necessary by the unruly 

 movements of the animal; and this support gives 

 more steadiness to the right hand. He carries the 

 edge of the knife to the middle (and a little nearer 

 the upper part) of the left flank, and with a single 

 stroke, he cuts vertically through the skin and the 

 muscles of this part. 



"The flank having thus been opened to the pe- 

 ritoneBum, [the'membranc which envelopes the 

 bowels.] the operator enlarges the incision with 

 the guarded knile, so as to be able to pass his arm. 

 He introduces his hand into (he abdomen, direct- 

 ing it against the cavity, behind the bottom [cul- 

 de-sac] of the paunch, where are lbund the horns 

 ol the uterus. Ae soon as he meets with this 



