210 < I : V l'TOKCHIDISM — DIAGNOSIS. 



under such circumstances, for he was unable to discover spermatozoa 

 in the retained testicle. Since then the same question has been 

 variously answered. Peters considers such animals not fertile, 

 though quite capable of coitus. Wesche, on the other hand, states 

 having seen fertile crypt orchids ; he refers, however, to a case of 

 cryptorchismus inguinalis. A final answer can scarcely be given. 

 The animal's fertility clearly depends on the development of the 

 testicles. The great majority of retained testicles certainly appear 

 degenerated, and contain no spermatozoa. Paugoue speaks of a 

 stallion in which both testicles were retained, and whose progeny 

 numbered amongst them five cryptorchids or monorchids, thus 

 apparently proving the condition to be hereditary. 



The retained testicle is often the seat of cysts and not infrequently 

 malignant new growths like sarcoma, carcinoma, etc. Leisering, 

 in the case of a dog, found the retained testicle attacked with cancer ; 

 the same condition has been seen in horses. In man, such testicles 

 still more frequently become diseased, so that early removal is 

 generally necessary. 



The same necessity does not exist in the horse, though removal 

 often becomes desirable on account of sexual excitement (particularly 

 in spring) greatly interfering with the animal's usefulness. Many 

 cryptorchids are too vicious for use. The flesh of cryptorchid swine 

 has usually a repulsive taste, which, according to Koch, is retained 

 even by the salted meat, and is more intense the more completely 

 the testicles have developed. 



Diagnosis is sometimes very easy, but, on the other hand, is 

 sometimes very difficult ; the exhibition of sexual appetite alone 

 is not a reliable symptom, for ' k rig " horses sometimes behave like 

 geldings and geldings like stallions. Nor is the castration scar to 

 be relied on. The operator may have removed both testicles through 

 one incision, or, as more frequently happens, he may have opened 

 one side of the scrotum without finding the testicle. 



Cadiot states that where the testicle has really been removed 

 the scar always shows a funnel-shaped depression surrounded with 

 wrinkles. By passing the finger from before backwards along the 

 sheath, a cord, varying in size between a goose-quill and the little 

 finger, can almost always be felt, this represents the stump of the 

 spermatic cord, and can be traced as far as the inguinal ring. On 

 the side of the retained testicle this cord is absent, and instead, one 

 feels a triangular groove. Occasionally the gubernaculum testis is 

 unusually large, and may be mistaken for the stump of the cord, 

 but in such cases the cicatrix is absent. 



