26o 



OPERATIVE TECHNIQUE. 



operation. -The best disinfectant is a cold 2 per cent, solution of lysol 

 or creolin. After perforating the vagina, the right hand is introduced 

 into the peritoneal cavity, and the ovary sought for below the last lumbar 

 vertebra, close to the external angle of the ilium, where it lies among 

 the folds of intestine. In mares suffering from nymphomania the 

 ovaries are often as large as a duck's egg. They can be distinguished 

 by their firm consistence and their mobility. The left ovary is grasped 

 with the right hand, and a long ecraseur having been introduced with 

 the left ha,nd, the chain is thrust over the ovary, a somewhat difficult 

 manoeuvre. The operator steadies the ecraseur with the left hand, 

 whilst an assistant turns the screw, and so tightens the chain. At this 

 stage the operator must make sure, by feeling with the right hand, that 



Fig. 271. — Ovariotomy with tiie ecraseur (Cadiot's method). 



no portion of bowel is included in the loop of the ecraseur. As soon as 

 the chain begins to divide the ovarian ligament it encounters greater 

 resistance, and the screw should be turned more slowly until the ovary 

 falls into the operator's hand, whereupon it and the ecraseur are 

 retracted. After similarly removing the right ovary (the left hand here 

 replaces the right) the operator endeavours to withdraw any ex- 

 travasated blood from the vagina by means of the hand. The animal 

 is then placed m a quiet, well-bedded stall, with the hind quarters on 

 a somewhat higher level than the fore. After-treatment is similar to 

 that in cows. 



In the mare the use of the ecraseur is undoubtedly preferable to 

 torsion of the ovarian ligament with forceps, the risk of injuring the 



