INTRODUCTION 



History 



Castration of animals was practiced by tlie ancients 

 as there is occasional mention of it in literature, but 

 it is doubtful if this operation was performed on ani- 

 mals before it was practiced on the human. There is 

 frequent allusion to castration or to one castrated in 

 many literary works and data on this operation as 

 practiced upon the human subject are readily obtained. 



"We quote from A Reference Handbook of the Medi- 

 cal Sciences, Vol. II, page 710: "Castration is a very 

 ancient practice. It was a consequence of the system 

 of polygamy. The word Eunuch means literally hav- 

 ing charge of the bed chamber. The Hebrew word 

 means mutilated, and the first royal chamberlains were 

 probably castrated men. Later the term eunuch was 

 applied to men in all sorts of offices and it lost its 

 original meaning." 



"Herodotus relates that the castration of slaves was 

 an industry among the Greeks. These slaves brought 

 a high price in the markets of Ephesus. Baidy records 

 of castration in China date back to 1100 B. C. Next 

 to beheading it was at one time the most severe form 

 of punishment." 



Object 



Reasons for the castrating of animals may be divided 

 into two general classes. First, for economic purposes ; 

 making it possible to keep and work animals of both 



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