208 COMPLICATIONS DURING CASTRATION. 



is preferable, as bleeding may be prolonged by the animal licking 

 the parts. Cats are similarly treated. Some operators fix the 

 animal by enveloping the fore-part in a sack ; an assistant holds 

 the hind legs. Scraping, twisting, or ligation may be used. 



(5) CASTEATION OF BIEDS. 



This is on the whole simple, but the operation requires some practice. 

 The cock is the bird most often castrated ; the bean-shaped testicles 

 lie in the abdomen. Operation is performed between the second and 

 sixth weeks of life, or when the habit of crowing commences and 

 the comb assumes a red colour. An assistant holds the bird on its 

 back in his open hands, with its beak pointing towards the operator, 

 and presses down the feet with his thumbs. The feathers are plucked 

 out or cut away for a distance of about | inch in front of the anus, 

 and a transverse incision about 1£ inches in length made through 

 the thin abdominal wall. At this stage care is required to avoid 

 damaging the abdominal contents. The incision is preferably made 

 with button-pointed scissors, the thin abdominal wall being raised 

 in a fold with dissecting forceps, incised with scissors, and the wound 

 enlarged to the necessary extent. The operator then passes the 

 disinfected index finger of the right hand into the abdominal cavity 

 to the spot where, externally, the posterior angle of the scapula may 

 be felt on the ribs, meanwhile pressing the abdominal contents to 

 one side. At this point there lies, on either side of the vertebral 

 column, a firm body, the size of a horse-bean — the testicle — -which 

 is first separated from the ribs by means of the bent finger, and then 

 drawn backwards through the wound where it is simply pinched 

 off. The removal of the testicle is indeed scarcely necessary, it being 

 sufficient to remove it from its original position. Any protruding 

 bowel is returned, and the wound in the abdominal wall united with 

 closely placed stitches. The bird is placed alone in a dry run, and 

 is given soft food and clean water. Recovery is complete in about 

 eight days. 



COMPLICATIONS OF CASTRATION IN MALE ANIMALS. 



Adhesion of the Testicle to the Tunica Vaginalis Reflexa. This 

 condition is only of importance in the operation with exposure of 

 the testicle, and the adhesion may often be simply broken down 

 by means of the thumb or round-pointed scissors. Where it is more 

 extensive and firm, as shown by the fact that the testicle fails to 



