224 OPERATIVE TECHNIQUE. 



To facilitate operation, compression forceps are applied to the cord, 

 and the ligatures applied below them, catgut or silk being used. The 

 ligature is placed above the epididymis, and the spermatic cord divided 

 half an inch below the point of ligation. Any blood that may have 

 escaped is removed with sterilised pledgets of cotton wool, the wound 

 in the scrotum closed with button sutures, the tunica vaginalis, if 

 possible, being included, though this is often difficult. The sutures 

 should be inserted deeply, so as to bring the subcutis in contact over a 

 considerable area. After the left testicle has been removed in a similar 

 way, the surface is rinsed with a disinfecting fluid, powdered with 

 iodoform or iodoform and tannin, and covered with a thin layer of 

 wadding, which adheres to the skin by means of the tannin, and 

 remains as a protection after the horse rises. 



Bayer has also removed both testicles through a single opening. 

 After operation the horse was allowed to rise, and the scrotum 

 covered with iodoform gauze, a mass of cotton wool applied below it, 

 and the whole secured by a suspensory bandage consisting of a 

 triangular piece of linen, to the corners of which tapes were attached. 

 The narrower end fitted between the hind legs ; the tape from this 

 was passed alongside the tail, over the croup, and fastened to a roller 

 strapped round the chest. The other tapes w^ere passed over the back 

 and knotted together. The tail was suitably secured. 



The difficulties in obtaining asepsis are less apparent during 

 operation than afterwards, inasmuch as a bandage is difficult to apply, 

 and a really secure protection against infection can scarcely be 

 devised. 



The right (upper) testicle should first be removed, so that when 

 operating on the second testicle, the first operation wound may not be 

 soiled. Irrigation of the wounds is usually neither necessary nor 

 desirable, as it retards healing. Should, however, the wound have 

 been soiled, it should be w^ashed out with a free stream of antiseptic 

 fluid. 



Aseptic castration has not yet been seriously practised, and is 

 scarcely likely to become common on account of its great inherent 

 difficulties. Whilst ordinary castration, with exposure of the testicle, 

 can be performed in from four to ten minutes, aseptic castration 

 demands from half to three quarters of an hour. The preparation is 

 troublesome, and anesthesia becomes necessary. Moreover, it offers 

 no great advantages. Castration by ordinary methods is seldom 

 followed by bad results. Nielsen castrated forty-one stallions and 

 eleven boars by torsion, without using sutures, and only saw swelling 

 and suppuration in two of the stallions, a result which bears favourable 



