CASTRATION BY REMOVAL OF THE TESTICLES. 183 



silk thread was passed as usual on the inner side of the cord, 

 after which the two portions of the needle, within the scrotum, 

 were unscrewed, the spermatic cord pushed between them, and the 

 needle again united and withdrawn. Failing this needle or even a 

 sharp and a blunt needle, the ligature may be returned by using 

 the blunt end of an ordinary needle, i.e. by simply using the needle 

 reversed during the second portion of the operation. Asepsis is not 

 difficult of attainment if properly sterilised silk be used. The 

 ligatures must, however, be drawn very tight, otherwise the operation 

 fails and the activity of the glands still continues. 



That sexual impulse is not removed by ligation of the vas deferens 

 alone is shown by the following experiment. One sometimes finds 

 cryptorchids in which the epididymis lies in the inguinal canal while 

 the testicle itself is in the abdomen. In one such case Moller ligatured 

 and snipped off the epididymis without removing the testicle. The 

 passage of semen then ceased but sexual desire remained as before 

 until by a second operation the testicle was removed. 



II. CASTRATION BY REMOVAL OF THE TESTICLES. 



At the present time the commonest method of castrating horses, 

 bulls, and other male animals is by removing the testicles. The 

 testicles are removed either alone or with portions of the scrotum, 

 though the latter method is only usual in calves and goats, where a 

 ligature is passed round the neck of the scrotum. A running noose, 

 formed of a strong piece of cord, is slipped round the upper part of 

 the scrotum and drawn tight. Provided it be drawn sufficiently 

 tight in the first instance the scrotum and its contents fall away in 

 from eight to fourteen days, otherwise the loop must again be 

 tightened. Wooden or iron clams have been used to replace the 

 ligature. Both methods inflict needless pain and are seldom used 

 except in calves, which, however, also suffer much more from clams 

 or ligatures than from the more surgical method of opening the 

 scrotum. Piot claims to have castrated two thousand bulls in Egypt 

 without loss by using the elastic ligature, which is also valuable 

 in the case of goats. The operation is easy and rapid and 

 involves no loss of blood. The elastic cord is applied in a stretched 

 condition, the ends are tied, and the testicles cut away about 

 an inch below the ligature. Care must be taken to prevent 

 the animals licking or gnawing the ligature which might thus be 

 torn away. 



