574 DISEASES OF THE ORGANS OF GENERATION. 



and in disarticulation of the shoulder-joint. The effects of 

 torsion upon the vessel are — the internal membrane is 

 broken, and becomes rolled up in the form of a cul-de-saCy 

 containing in its middle a clot of blood, to which it after- 

 wards adheres, through the effusion of plastic lymph. In no 

 instance has the artery been observed to ulcerate or become 

 grangrenous. 



To Mr. Molyneux, V.S., London, belongs the credit of 

 being the first to introduce torsion as a mode of castration 

 of horses. In 'The Veterinarian^ for 1835, appears the 

 following : 



In November, 1834, Mr. Molyneux was requested by 

 Mr. Geale, job-master, Regent Street, to castrate a colt. 

 Torsion was suggested and consented to. The colt was cast 

 and secured in the usual mode. Mr. Molyneux laid bare 

 the testicle in the ordinary manner; and first divided the 

 vas deferens and cellular membrane, immediately above the 

 epididymis, leaving nothing attached to the testicle but the 

 spermatic artery and vein. ^^ I then took the torsion-forceps 

 and applied them as tight as possible, after the clams had 

 been placed on the cord about three inches from the epidi- 

 dymis in the usual manner, and the testicle cut off. The 

 forceps where turned eight or nine times, and held firmly 

 for four or five minutes, when the cord was suffered to re- 

 turn gradually into the abdomen. I waited five minutes, 

 and, no hemorrhage ensuing, I operated in the same manner 

 on the left testicle. The colt was then let up, and only the 

 trifling quantity of blood which is usually discharged by the 

 scrotal vessels, was lost.^^ Annexed to this — the first case — 

 are accounts of two others, one of the horses being five and 

 a half years old, both equally successful in their results. 



By way of caution, Mr. Molyneux adds, that the operator 

 ought to make the requisite number of torsions steadily and 

 without stopping, and "hold the cord, firmly, for two or three 

 minutes afterwards.^' According to Amussat and Costello, 

 however, this last injunction is unnecessary. " If, after a 

 certain number of turns, the operator pauses, and then, fear- 

 ing he may not have done enough, gives another turn, and. 



