IIL! ANIMAL CASTKATKIN 



was ruptured. Twice t'aeli year lier owner would come, five miles, witli 

 the pig's ill a market wagon for operation, and strange to say lie never 

 lost a pig as a result therefrom. 



Objects and Indications — All ruptured boars .should be castrated for at 

 least three reasons: (a) To stop their l)reed in order to lessen the birth 

 of eongenitally ruptured pigs, (b) For tlie same reason that boars are 

 usually castrated, viz. : to increase their usefulness and value for food 

 jiuri^oses. (c) In order that they may peacefully commingle with other 

 hogs without exhibiting the natural and accpiired sexual habits of the 

 boar. 



ilost tliat has been written and published in regard to methods of pro- 

 cedure is vague and some of it misleading. If the operator follows the 

 directions given liy some self-denominated authorities — namely, for opera- 

 tion via scrotal incision — he will make a haphazard job and be a monu- 

 mental failure so far as permanent results are concerned. Since the direct 

 cause for the liowel protruding into tlie inguinal canal and scrotum is 

 the abnormally large opening of tlie internal abdominal ring, how can a 

 scrotal operation he expected to correct the trouble? By no known means 

 can the internal abdominal ring be reached by a scrotal incision unless it 

 be by a jDrobe and a very long and .small sized probe at that. Since the 

 intei'ual abdominal ring must be closed in order to correct the condition, 

 and since this ring cannot be reached via a scrotal incision, it becomes 

 necessary to operate by an incision immediately over and in close proximity 

 to the ring. Tliis operation we will now illustrate and describe. 



Ayr — At 2.5 to 35 pounds weight. 



Season — Early springs late fall and winter. 



Preparation — Withhold food for twenty-four hours in order to have the 

 alimentary tract empty. 



Restraint — Suspended by means of a rope looped above the hocks and 

 attached to a beam above. 



Position — Hanging just high enough so that the operative field will be 

 opposite the operators' breast. 



Instruments — 



1. ]\Iiles' hooked castrating knife. (Pig. 25.) 



2. Emasculatoi-. (Pig. 80.) 



•3. Plagedorn Xo. 3 needle (Fig. 84) carrying 20 inclies braided silk 

 Xo. 12 for suturing the skin incision. 



4. Sui-geon 's full curved needle X"o. 5 (Pig. 181) carrying a sufficient 

 amount of cliromicized catgut (ten-day) to close the internal abdominal 

 I'ing. 



5. liichtcr's needle-holder. (Fig. 34.) 



