ZaPONS AhO POULARDES. 85 



other being afterwards sought ind removed in a similar manner. Care must be taken that 



the testicle does not slip away Dng the intestines after it is detached, when its detection and 

 removal from the body may bt ficult ; but even if this accident should occur it is not often 

 followed by serious results, thou: ccasionally it does excite inflammation. 



Both testicles being safely Dved, the edges of the wound are brought together and kept 

 in the proper position by two o ree stitches with the waxed thread. These are made in the 

 usual surgical mode, each stitc ;ing detached, and separately tied, not sewn as a seam. In 

 making them the chief thing ti ard against is to avoid even pricking the intestines with the 

 needle, much less including any ion of them in the stitch, which last would inevitably result 



in the death of the fowl. When ; done rightly there should be little bleeding or suffering ; and 



the whole being safely over, the I should be put under a coop in a quiet place and given only 

 soft food, such as sopped bread, water. After a few hours he may be put by himself in a 



run or yard ; but until perfectly h 1 must not be allowed to perch, but obliged to sleep on straw. 

 For three or four days the soft foe 5t be continued ; and when entirely recovered the bird 



may be either set at liberty if wanted to rear chickens, or put up to fatten. 



Pullets are also converted into poulardes by depriving them of the power of producing eggs. 

 In France it is usual to extirpate the ovary, but this is needless ; the operation recommended by 

 Mr. Yarrell of simply dividing the oviduct with a sharp knife being quite sufficient. The flank 

 is to be exposed in the same manner as in the preceding case, but the incision should be made 

 close to the side-bone. The lower bowel will then be seen, and close beside it the oviduct, which 

 is then easily drawn forward by a blunt hook and cut across. This entirely stops the development 

 of the ovary, and causes the bird to attain a great size 



The Chinese operate somewhat difierently to the French. The chickens to be caponised are 

 fasted for at least twenty-four hours, as this is thought to diminish bleeding. The bird is then 

 placed on its left side, with the wing folded back and kept under one foot of the operator, who 

 , works without an assistant, while its legs are kept fast under the other foot ; or sometimes an 

 assistant is employed. The feathers are now plucked from the right side near the hip-joint, and 

 the incision is made between the two last ribs, going just deep enough to divide them. Several 

 rude instruments are used, and the testicles are usually removed by the sawing of a rough loop 

 or ligature of cocoa-nut fibre across their attachments. In one respect, however, their process is 

 better, the wound not being stitched up, but the skin being forcibly drawn on one side before the 

 incision is made ; so that when the whole operation is completed and it is released, it covers of 

 itself the wound in the flesh, and avoids the irritation which stitches sometimes produce. 



Generally speaking, it may be said that either capons or poulardes exceed in weight about 

 one-fifth what the same birds would have been if fatted in their natural state ; but the flesh is also 

 whiter and more delicate, and the development plumper upon the table. In the case of pullets 

 we must say we think the operation unadvisable, the birds being valuable for laying ; but the art 

 of caponising cockerels might be extended in England with great advantage, as fowls thus treated 

 remain tender even if kept to the age of eighteen months, when they make enormous fowls, and 

 may be employed in nursing chickens meanwhile. Hence the process becomes of considerable 

 importance to all who consider poultry-keeping from a commercial point of view. 



Before being killed, all fowls should be fasted for at least fourteen hours. Several methods 

 of killing have been mentioned in the quotations already given. M. Soyer recommends breaking 

 the neck, which is done by taking the head in the right hand, with the thumb against the back 

 of it ; seizing the neck with the left, the same arm supporting the fowl ; then a quick jerk with the 



