370 SUEGICAL OPERATIONS. 



np the testicle to the cnre of the assistant, sliould he cautions 

 that no parts of the scrotum are included in it, and then take 

 the open ends of the clams in his right hand, having disengaged 

 every thing with the left ; the assistant then brings the end of 

 the clam together by his pincers, taking care to keep them close 

 to the horse at the moment of his struggling. The ends being 

 secured by a double round of strings and tied, the generality of 

 practitioners take away the testicle by cutting through the cord 

 at about the distance of half an inch from the clam. Others 

 allow them to remain on till the clam be taken off, as a matter 

 of security from second hasmorrhage. The clams must have a 

 sufficient degree of pressure completely to stop the circulation in 

 the part, yet not so great as to lacerate the vessels. If pressure 

 be made inefficiently, the animal suffers severely from it ; on the 

 other hand, the pressure being properly made, he suffers less 

 than in any other way of operating. 



Mr. Goodwin thus describes the uncovered operation, to which 

 he gives the preference : — 



" After opening the scrotum and dissecting through the 

 dartos, Avhich is very readily done by passing the knife lightly 

 over its fibres, the testicle and its covering, the tunica vaginalis, 

 must be taken in the right hand, while the left should be em- 

 l^loyed in pushing back the scrotum from its attachments, and, 

 having your assistant ready as before with the clam, it must be 

 placed well above the epididymis, and greater pressure is, of 

 course, necessary, as the vaginal covering is included in the 

 clam." 



The principal advantage of this method of operating is, that if 

 there should be scrotal hernia, the operation may still be safely 

 performed without those dangerous, and sometimes fatal, conse- 

 quences which often attend the common method of operating 

 when a portion of the intestines has escaped into the scrotum. 



Mr. Goodwin states that he has practised the first operation a 

 great many times successfully, and with very little subsequent 

 inflammation. He has also tried the uncovered method with 

 equal success, and gives it the preference, for the reason before 

 stated. 



The operatiori by ligature Is not frequently practised, having 

 gone into disi-epute for many years in consequence of the opera- 

 tion having been performed by Mr. Cline, the celebrated surgeon, 

 and followed by inflammation and death. It is, however, to be 

 doubted whether the method of performing the operation was 

 really the cause of death, for we find that the ligature has been 

 employed by some veterinary surgeons for many years with the 

 best effects. Mr. Richard Collier, of Dublin, says that he has 

 adopted it for thirty years, and it has been very successful with 



