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the skin and flesh, being careful not to go so deep as to cut the intes- 

 tines. There is little danger in doing this, if the intestines are empty, 

 as they will be from the bird's long fast. Next take the spring 

 spreader (Fig. 3), press it between the thumb and finger until the ends 

 come together and insert it in the incision with the spring end toward 

 the feet. When looking into the cut a thin film of skin will be 

 noticed enclosing the bowels. Take the sharp hook (Fig. 5) and pick 

 open the tissue. After this is done, one testicle can be seen very 

 easily, lying close up to the back of the fowl, sometimes both testicles 





Instruments used in caponizing. 



are in sight, but not very often. Now comes the only dangerous part 

 of the operation getting hold and removing the testicle; but with 

 a steady hand and plenty of light, not one out of fifty should be lost. 

 The reason this is dangerous is, attached to the testicle, and lying 

 just back of it, is one of the main arteries of the fowl, and if this is 

 injured, death is almost sure to come. In this place, the canula (Fig. 

 2) has proven better than the twisting spoon (Fig. 1). The wire or 

 hair can be easily looped around the testicle and a clean and quick 

 cut can be made. Take the canula in the right hand and adjust the 

 wire in it so that a loop about one-half inch long will extend from the 

 small ,end of the tube, leaving two ends of the wire sticking out the 

 other end so as to get a good hold. Insert the end with the loop over 

 both ends of the testicle and entirely around it, holding the end of 

 the tube close to the testicle. Now, slowly but firmly, draw up on 

 the two ends of the wire that are sticking out of the other end of the 

 canula, being sure that it is always close to the testicle. If drawing 

 up on the wire does not have any effect or does not at once pull out 

 the testicle, carefully turn from one side to the other; then it will 

 come off. This completes the operation on that side, but before tak- 

 ing out the spreaders, a careful examination should be taken to see 

 if there was any foreign matter left in the incision. Such as feathers 

 and little sticks or pieces of wood are sometimes left in and cause 



