SECURING SMALL ANIMALS. 39 



to the table. This table, now made of metal, can be readily cleansed 

 and rendered aseptic. Another excellent table, of wood, designed 

 by Claude Bernard, consists of four parallel leaves connected by 

 hinges. The two outer leaves may be inclined at any angle towards 

 one another, forming a trough to receive the animal's body. Owing 

 to its great simplicity and absence of depressions likely to retain 

 dirt, etc., this table is cheap, and responds to most of the require- 

 ments of veterinary surgery, while it is readily adaptable to animals 

 of varying size, and when folded is quite portable. 



A special instrument is used in France for securing dogs suspected 



Fig. 64. — Operating table for the dog. (Claude Bernard's design.) 



of rabies. It has a long handle, and carries at the end a spring collar 

 which, when pressed on the dog's neck, opens and holds him securely. 

 For castration and other operations on the cat, the skin at the 

 back of the neck is grasped with one hand, that over the lumbar 

 region with the other, and the subject firmly pressed down on a 

 table. Another method is for the assistant to grasp the hind limbs 

 on either side between the second and third fingers, the fore-limbs 

 between the index and second fingers, and the skin on either side 

 of the head with the index finger and thumb. Thus held the animal 

 is quite powerless. Troublesome patients may be wrapped in a 

 thick cloth to prevent scratching and biting. It is sometimes recom- 

 mended to thrust the animal into a narrow sack or into a boot. 



