CASTRATION. 587 



convalescence, at the same time, one which, but too com- 

 monly, by rapid strides, in spite of all that can be done, 

 ends in mortification and death. Inflammation aggravated 

 or protracted in the scrotal ^younds from some source of 

 irritation, will readily find its way into the abdomen ; though 

 this probably is not so frequent a cause as catching cold or 

 exposure to cold : turning a colt out after being operated on 

 during cold damp weather, or into wet marshy pasture, and 

 particularly at the fall of the year or in winter, is certainly 

 hazarding an attack of peritonitis. It was observed at the 

 Veterinary School at Lyons, during the sessional year 1817- 

 18, that the inclement weather which prevailed proved the 

 occasion of several horses being suddenly seized with peri- 

 tonitis after castration, and of some dying from it in spite 

 of all that could be done. Dulness and dejection ; loss of 

 appetite ; a tucked-up and tense abdomen ; disturbance of 

 respiration and pulse, ending in the manifestation of abdo- 

 minal pain ; will denote its attack, and immediately set us 

 about the employment of appropriate remedies. 



Enteritis, according to D'Arboval, may prove a complica- 

 tion of peritonitis, and render the case so much the more 

 dangerous. This is more likely to happen when the horse 

 has not received the preparation of fasting for the operation, 

 or has taken cold after it. It is indicated by the presence 

 of the most violent griping pains. Should peritonitis not 

 be already present, these fits of colic may bring it on. It 

 must be treated accordingly.^ 



Champignon — for which we have not yet got an English 

 name — is one of the occasional consequences after castration 

 of the pressure-clams : in no case, that I am aware of, has 

 it supervened upon cauterization ; hence the little we as yet 

 know about it in this country compared with the knowledge 

 which the experience of years has put French veterinarians 

 into the possession of concerning it. D^ArbovaPs definition 

 of it, is, a fungous enlargement of a scirrhous nature of the 

 lower extremities of the spermatic cord ; and the account he 



' For an account of the symptoms and treatment turn back to " Peritonitis " 

 and " Enteritis." 



