76 SPRING-TIME SURGEKY 



clean pan, a cake of soap and clean towels ready 

 for use and after having an assistant wet down 

 the entire abdomen to allay flying hairs and dust, 

 I have the scrotum and inguinal region scrubbed 

 well with soap and water, containing any relia- 

 ble antiseptic, then thoroughly rinsed with bichlo- 

 ride solution, 1-3,000 strength. If I have had to 

 assist in the castrating (with gloved hands, of 

 course) I proceed to wash my hands and wrists 

 in same strength solution, and with twitch ap- 

 plied to the patient's nose, make a four or five- 

 inch incision about one inch from the median 

 line. I prefer the side on which I am operating, 

 uppermost. In making the incision I try not to 

 go deeply, and thus avoid wounding the large 

 scrotal veins that may lie in such a tortuous net- 

 work that it is hard to keep from cutting them 

 if the knife goes deep. If, however, any of the 

 larger blood vessels are severed, it is not a diffi- 

 cult matter to take up with artery-forceps and 

 ligate, a thing it is advisable to do at once. 



If the animal has not been operated upon 

 before, it is an easy matter to break or tear down 

 the fascia in an outward and forward direction 



