CASTRATION WITHOUT REMOVAL OF THE TESTICLES. 181 



and the reflected portion of the external oblique tendon, i.e. Poupart's 

 ligament ; it lies just in front of the transverse portion of the os pubis, 

 inclined obliquely forwards and outwards ; '\ inch Hearer the middle line 

 lies'the subcutaneous abdominal artery. 



Castration does not necessarily impty removal of the testicles. 

 The function alone of the testicle can be destroyed, but as the 

 process is necessarily less certain than that in which the testicles 

 are removed, the latter is very generally preferred. No description 

 of the subject, however, could reasonably be regarded as complete 

 which omitted reference to the former method. A short description 

 will first be given of 



T. CASTRATION WITHOUT REMOVAL OF THE TESTICLES. 



(a) Crushing the Testicle. A method formerly used especially 

 in Spain, consisted in first applying clams to the scrotum and then 

 crushing the testicles singly by blows from a wooden hammer. Apart 

 from the uncertainty of the result, the method was barbarous and 

 painful in the extreme. The same is true of the system of perforating 

 the testicle with a glowing iron. 



(b) Crushing the Spermatic Cord. The neck of the scrotum was 

 included in wooden clams which were hammered for several minutes 

 with a mallet. The operation was usually performed on calves. 

 When successful, the testicles gradually became atrophied in con- 

 sequence of thrombosis of the spermatic vessels. Steers were cas- 

 trated by this method in India. The operation, if it may so be 

 called, was also performed on sheep and goats, the reason of its 

 adoption being the danger in a hot climate of inflicting surgical 

 wounds and the fact that after-treatment is thus dispensed with. 



(c) Torsion of the Spermatic Cord was formerly much employed 

 in France for bulls, and is known as bistownage. The animal's head 

 was fastened up securely and the operator, standing behind the 

 animal, grasped the scrotum in both hands and drew one testicle 

 as far backwards as possible. On releasing the scrotum the testicle 

 was drawn upwards. By repeating this manoeuvre several times 

 the cremaster muscle was temporarily paralysed and could no longer 

 retract the testicle. 



As soon as this result was attained the spermatic cord was grasped 

 close above the epididymis with the thumb and first and second 

 fingers of the left hand, while with the fingers of the right hand the 



