240 OPERATIVE TECHNIQUE. 



The retained testicle is often the seat of dropsical cysts and not 

 infrequently malignant new growths like sarcoma, carcinoma, etc. 

 Leisering, in the case of a dog, found the retained testicle attacked 

 with cancer ; the same condition has been seen in horses. In man, 

 such testicles still more frequently become diseased, so that early 

 removal is generally necessary. 



The same necessity does not exist in the horse, though removal 

 often becomes desirable on account of sexual excitement (particularly 

 in spring) greatly interfering with the animal's usefulness. Many 

 cryptorchids are too vicious for use. The flesh of cryptorchid swine 

 has usually a repulsive taste, which, according to Koch, is retained 

 even by the salted meat, and is more intense the more completely the 

 testicles have developed. 



Diagnosis is sometimes very easy, but, on the other hand, is some- 

 times very difficult ; the exhibition of sexual appetite, alone is not a 

 reliable symptom, for "rig" horses sometimes behave like geldings and 

 geldings like stallions. Nor is the castration scar to be relied on. The 

 operator may have removed both testicles through one incision, or, as 

 more frequently happens, he may have opened one side of the scrotum 

 without finding the testicle. 



Cadiot states that where the testicle has really been removed the 

 scar always shows a funnel-shaped depression surrounded with wrinkles ; 

 by passing the finger from before backwards along the sheath, a cord, 

 varying in size between a goose-quill and the little finger, can almost 

 alwa}'S be felt ; this represents the stump of the spermatic cord, and 

 can be traced as far as the inguinal ring. On the side f)f the retained 

 testicle this cord is absent, and instead, one feels a triangular groove. 

 Occasionally the gubernaculum testis is unusually de\'eloped, and may 

 be mistaken for the stump of the cord, but in such case the cicatrix is 

 absent. 



To distinguish between inguinal and abdominal cryptorchidism 

 Cadiot proposes the following method of examination : — The points of 

 the fingers are brought together, forming a cone, and are pushed 

 towards the inguinal ring ; the testicle when in the canal is recognised 

 as a rounded, thick, movable object. By examining the inner abdo- 

 minal ring of either side per rcciuvi there will be found on the side of 

 the retained testicle a thin cord passing into the ring, which cord 

 cannot be caused to move by drawing the sheath downwards. Should 

 the animal have been castrated, however, the cord will descend as soon 

 as an assistant moves the sheeith. 



Where the testicle lies in the abdomen itself the inguinal canal is 

 necessarily empty, and the space usually lined by the tunica vaginalis 



