646 CASTRATION. 



by this method for the last fourteen years, and always with satis- 

 factory results. 



The operation by ligature of the artery seems the most surgical 

 and humane, but experience has proved that it is the most 

 unsuccessful of all methods. The late Professor Dick recom- 

 mended the ligature for a number of years ; but towards the end 

 of his life he was forced to acknowledge, and frankly did so, that 

 it was attended with frequent fatal results, the very presence of 

 the ligature seemingly inducing a prejudicial effect, irritating the 

 cord, and causing peritonitis or abscesses. 



When hernia is present, operation by torsion is inadmissible, 

 that by the clam being the only method which can be performed 

 with safety ; and what is termed the " covered operation," 

 namely, that in which the tunica vaginalis is left undivided 

 with the knife, and dissected from the scrotum, has been recom- 

 mended. I consider this method a very undesirable one, and 

 calculated to be succeeded by unsatisfactory results ; and even 

 if it were always successful, I fail to see the advantage of dis- 

 secting the skin and dartos muscle from the tunica vaginalis, 

 and making a wound that is sure to suppurate profusely, when 

 a much more simple method, namely, that of including the 

 scrotum in a plain clam, can be easily performed. I therefore 

 strongly recommend that when a hernia is present, the intestine 

 should be returned into the abdomen, and the scrotum and its 

 contents upon the side of the hernia included in a strong 

 wooden clam (not a caustic calm), placed as close to the external 

 ring as possible, and the whole mass allowed to slough. In this 

 way no incisions are made, no painful dissections; and the 

 barrier to the descent and escape of the intestines, by the skin 

 being included in the adhesive process, is much stronger than 

 when it consists of the serous tunics only. 



In castrating aged horses particularly, it is often found that 

 the testicle has become firmly adherent to the scrotum, generally 

 at the inferior and the posterior part of the testicle. 



If the adhesion be slight it can be broken down easily ; but in 

 some cases it is so extensive as to render this an impossibility, 

 and the operator is compelled to dissect the adhesion until the 

 cord is clearly reached. 



Mr. Collins recommends that the covered operation be 

 performed when the tunics are much thickened. Why not 



