178 THE EXTERIOR OF THE HORSE. 



surgeon stations himself opposite the croup of the same side, places 

 the left hand upon the dorso-lumbar region, being careful not to stand 

 in the line of action of the corresponding posterior member, and goes, 

 with the right hand, in search of the testicles, having previously 

 caressed the parts which surround the region. 



When these organs are well developed, lie in the scrotum, and are 

 consequently visible and tangible from the exterior, the horse is 

 entire,^ and is also called stallion; he is called gelding after emascu- 

 lation. Emasculation is performed for various reasons, most usually 

 with a view of completely destroying the function of these organs. 



The testicles, in the entire male, should be well down, rounded, 

 almost equal, firm, and rolling under the pressure of the fingers, with- 

 out showing any abnormal sensibility. They are larger in the adult 

 animal than in the colt, and in Arabian, Barb, and Andalusian stallions 

 than in those of other races. In hot weather they ma}' become some- 

 what flabby and pendulous. When they are small and retracted 

 towards the inferior orifice of the inguinal canal, soft, or altogether 

 pendulous, they indicate a horse that is degenerated, without energy, 

 without vigor, and unsuited for reproduction. 



The gelding has the testicular envelopes flattened and almost indis- 

 tinguishable from the posterior part of the sheath of the penis. There 

 always exist on each side of the median line, at the place where the 

 testicles have been, two linear cicatrices, slightly excavated, which 

 present the same characters in all emasculated animals, aud which are 

 due to the excision of these glands. 



A horse may have been subjected to an operation destroying his 

 reproductive faculties, and still have his testicles in the scrotum. This 

 operation, known under the name bistournage, is nothing else than a 

 subcutaneous torsion of the testicular cord, which is soon followed by 

 a complete atrophy of the organ due to the obliteration of the blood- 

 vessels which nourish the testicle. 



Although very little practised upon the horse at present, bistournage 

 leaves traces which can be easily recognized : the volume of the tes- 

 ticle is no more than that of a large walnut ; it occupies an elevated 

 situation, and is no longer movable in its envelopes, in consequence of 

 the adhesions which are established under the influence of the inflam- 

 matory phenomena consequent upon the torsion. 



When the testicular envelopes present the characters recognized in 

 the gelding, and there exists on the surface no appreciable cicatrix ; 



1 Technically, the word horse signifies the entire male. 



