CASTKATION 



175 



"fixing forceps" (fig. 519), which are firmly held by an assistant (Plate 

 LVI, fig. 2). The operator now seizing the cord still nearer the testicle 

 by the " moving forceps " (fig. 520), twists the intervening portion round 

 and round from left to right until all the structures break away, and the 

 testicle is removed. It is an operation requiring more skill than the 

 method previously described, and occupies more time. If the traction and 

 twisting are too quickly executed, the vessel may be broken before its coats 

 are sufficiently torn and separated from each other (the object sought) to 

 stop the bleeding. 



Ligature. With the same methods of restraint and preliminary 

 preparation, severance of the glands may be effected by ligature. In this 

 method the posterior or non- 

 vascular portion of the cord is 

 divided by the knife as in the 

 preceding operation, and the 

 artery is tightly bound round 

 by some suitable material, as 

 carbolized gut, waxed silk, or 

 fishing cord. The first of these 

 presents an advantage in that 

 it is capable of being liquefied 

 and absorbed during the healing 

 of the wound, while the others 

 require to be removed from out- 

 side when strangulation of the 

 vessel has been effected; but 



none of them is wholly satisfactory. The general opinion in this country 

 among castrators of experience is to the effect that this, the most simple 

 and cleanly method, is the least successful of any. 



Caustic Clamps. Destruction of the cord by a corrosive agent, com- 

 bined with compression in a wooden clamp, is among the older methods, 

 probably next akin to that practised among savages of including the whole 

 scrotum in a ligature, and turning the wretched beast adrift until the 

 testicles dropped off. In castrating by clamps one of two methods is adopted 

 the covered or the uncovered operation. In the covered operation the 

 testicle is not completely exposed. The skin and dartos muscle are cut 

 through, leaving the internal envelope immediately enclosing the organ 

 intact. The clamp is then placed upon the spermatic cord and its investing 

 tunic, with the ends directed backward and forward. They are then 

 brought forcibly together by the castrating forceps (fig. 521), and securely 

 tied by means of strong cord. 



Fig. 521. Clamps and Forceps for holding the same 



