CASTRATION. 121 



part should, therefore, always be secured in a kind of cap 

 during the medical treatment. 



Castration, 



It now and then becomes necessary to perform this opera- 

 tion, from disease of the spermatic chord, or from scirrhous 

 swellings in the testicles themselves. Whenever such a ne- 

 cessity occurs, although castration is not a dangerous opera- 

 tion on the brute subject, yet it requires the assistance of a 

 veterinary, or a human surgeon. Each testicle should be 

 taken out of the scrotum separately, by an opening suffici- 

 ently large, when a ligature should be applied, moderately 

 tight only, around the spermatic chord, about an inch and 

 an half beyond its insertion into the testicle ; the separa- 

 tion should then be effected by the scalpel or knife between 

 the ligature and testis. It is sometimes performed with- 

 out the ligature, by making the division of the chord with 

 a red-hot knife, but the other is the neatest and safest 

 mode. 



In performing this operation on cats, nothing more is requi- 

 site than to make a slight opening on each side the scrotum, 

 to slip out the two testicles, and draw them away with the 

 fingers. The rupture alone of the spermatic chord prevents 

 hgemorrhage in them, and no future inconvenience is felt. It 

 is often found difficult to secure a cat for this operation ; but 

 it may be easily managed in two ways. One is, by putting 

 the head and fore-quarters of the animal into a boot ; the 

 other is effected by rolling her whole body lengthways in 

 several yards of towelling. 



Cataract. 

 See Blindness. 



