CAPONIZING—-HOW IT IS DONE. 95 
at convenient places; these are furnished with broad 
tapes, by which the bird is securely held during the. 
operation. The best plan for a novice is to kill a bird 
and operate upon that first, in order to learn the posi- 
tion of the parts. Lay the dead bird upon the table, 
dispose it as hereafter described, and then place the 
screw-eyes where they would be needed to secure a live 
fowl. 
“‘One or two will be required to hold the wings, and 
one for each leg; six will be all that will ever be neces- 
sary. Place the bird upon the table and fasten it down 
upon its left side, as shown at Fig. 55, where the rings 
and tapes are seen. The spot where the opening is to be 
made is shown by the x. Here the feathers are plucked, 
Fig. 56.—SPRING HOOK. Fig. 57.— HOOK. 
and an opening is made through the skin with a pair of 
shart-pointed, long-bladed scissors. We have found 
these better than a knife. The skin is drawn to oneside 
and an opening is made with the scissors between the 
last two ribs for an inch and a half in length, great care 
being taken not to wound the intestines. The ribs are 
then separated by the spring hook (Fig. 56), so as to ex- 
pose the inside. The intestimes are gently moved out of 
the way with the handle of a teaspoon, and the glands 
or testicles will be seen attached tothe back. The tissue 
which covers them is torn open with the hook (Fig. 57) 
aided by the tweezers (Fig. 58). 
“The gland is then grasped with the forceps (Fig. 59) 
and the cord is held by the tweezers. The gland is then 
