EXPERIMENTS IN CASTRATION. 475 



had received, wheu the operation was over, though, he manifested a good deal of 

 sensitiveness under the knife. The difficulty in the way of castration lies in the fact 

 that the testes can evidently be drawn up into the body cavity at will by the animals. 

 There they lie beneath muscles and iu close proximity to organs that must be avoided. 

 It is probable that it would be equally if not more difficult to castrate a yearling, 

 and doubtless also a 2Tyear-old, as the testes seem not to appear in the scrotum until 

 about the fourth year, and it is likely that they can be withdrawn at will even after 

 they come down. Many of the old bulls show no trace of them in the scrotum, while 

 others do. The pup can be handled with some degree of safety, but a yearling or 

 2-year-old would be an exceedingly difficult animal to control during the operation. 



THE DEAD GOVT. 



Thedeadcow wasexamined while being skinned. No trace of injury appeared under 

 the skin. There was milk in the mammary glands, though it seemed to be drying up. 

 The lungs were very deeply congested, pointing to the possibility of drowning. The 

 heart and other organs were apparently normal. The stomach was found to be full of 

 black clotted blood. One ovary shows the presence of a scar, and the horn of the 

 uterus attached showed inflammation, as though recently impregnated. The other 

 ovary was free from scar; its horn of the uterus enlarged as if not fully recovered 

 yet from the birth of the present season's pup. Uterus and ovaries saved in formalin 

 for Mr. Lucas. 



By accident it was discovered that a vicious fish bone was found sticking in the 

 animal's throat. It had pierced the veins of the neck and was doubtless the remote 

 if not the immediate cause of death. The throat, fish bone and all, saved in formalin 

 for examination. 



■ In the evening I went to see the pups at the point of Elack Blufi". The little 

 colony of about 100 is still in a sheltered place under- the cliff. They seem to make 

 this a permanent home. Three of the recently branded pups from Kitovi are here. 

 Another is swimming in the surf a short distance out. The pups in the surf are 

 perfectly reckless, but apparently know what they are about, as none are seen to get 

 into trouble. There are among the pups gray ones and black ones, small ones and 

 large ones, fat ones and lean. Some look as though they are beginning to starve, 

 but all are strong and active. One or two gray pups already show the brown belly 

 of the yearling. 



SEPTEMBER 15. 



The stormy weather of the past few days has moderated. The surf is down, but 

 it is still foggy. 



OBSERVATIONS ON PUPS. 



I watched the pups from the point of Black Bluff. The heavy surf has filled the 

 water along Kitovi Bay with seaweed. Every pup is happy becanse he has something 

 to play with. 



Five of the single-branded pups are to-day on the rocks in the shelter of the 



cliff. Three go off into the water for a swim. They all seem as lively and playful as 



their companions. The single brand is quite as distinctive and much less hard on 



the pup. It does not mar the skin so much, perhaps, but must damage it considerably. 



15184, PT 2 15 



