OOPHORECTOMY. 221 



infected, thus setting up fatal peritonitis. In the second case the 

 elastic tunic and the skin were very carefully sutured, notwith- 

 standing which a prolapse of bowel occurred on the fourth day. The 

 bowel was thoroughly disinfected and returned, but septic peritonitis 

 occurred and proved fatal. In the next two cases Frohner sutured 

 each layer of tissue separately, firstly the peritoneum, then the rectus 

 abdominis, then the yellow elastic tunic, and finally the skin. Both 

 cases did well. Frohner, however, drew attention to the incon- 

 venience and difficulty of the procedure. Bayer twice successfully 

 operated by this method. 



(7.) CASTEATION OF FEMALE ANIMALS (OOPHOEECTOMY). 



The castration of female animals, consisting in removal of the 

 ovaries, is less frequently performed than the corresponding operation 

 in the male. It is said to have certain valuable economic results ; 

 thus young pigs and heifers are thought to fatten more satisfactorily 

 afterwards, and milch cows to remain longer in milk ; bitches are 

 castrated to prevent their breeding, and to avoid the unpleasantness 

 associated with their coming on heat. Cows and sows are the most 

 common subjects of operation, and for this reason will first be 

 considered. 



(a) Cows not only fatten better, but their milking period is con- 

 siderably prolonged after castration. As early as 1850 Charlier 

 recommended castrating cows thirty to forty days after the birth 

 of the second or third calf, following which the yield of milk was 

 said to remain steady as at the time of castration. Although this 

 expectation has not been entirely realised, cows are still castrated 

 in order to prolong their milk-yielding period, and to increase their 

 capacity for fattening. The operation has been frequently revived 

 and again abandoned. At one time in Germany and Austria it 

 was extensively practised, but later inquiries show that it has been 

 again relinquished, and is now seldom spoken of. Attempts have 

 also been made to practise it extensively in England, but without 

 much success. Even although peritonitis is avoided, the rumen is 

 apt to become adherent to the wall of the abdomen and digestive 

 disturbance to follow. Hendrickx claims that in one respect cas- 

 tration acts as a prophylactic against tuberculosis, inasmuch as it 

 prevents the bearing of calves by animals suffering from or disposed 

 to this disease. 



Castration is successfully employed in cows as a cure for nympho- 

 mania. Albrecht operated on fifty animals with this object ; forty- 

 two were completely cured, in three cases the operation failed, and 



Q2 



