CAUTERIZATION—FIRING. "7 
fied tissues, and application on the stump of a coat of tar, previously 
submitted to boiling ; such are the precautions to be observed. 
Generally, those operated upon can resume their work towards the 
fifteenth or twentieth day. 
Elastic ligature has been tried for the castration of solipeds. 
Applied upon the exposed spermatic cord, as in the uncovered 
process, the rubber ligature amputates the testicle in two or three 
days.. But serious complications (tetanus, septicemia, peritonitis): 
have been so common, that this mode of castration has been rejected 
in ordinary practice. In 1880, out of 20 castrations, Tapon had 
5 deaths. Pinel says, he was more fortunate in tying the ends of 
the rubber with a piece of twine. In this way, the spermatic cords 
can no longer be drawn up into the inguinal canals, so rich in con- 
nective tissue, and on that account so easily inoculated. Using an- 
tiseptic measures, this veterinarian had only one serious accident 
out of 400 operations. The application of the rubber cord over the 
skin, is followed by the slough of the testicle in 3 or 4 days; but 
there is a darge wound remaining (Cagny). 
Elastic ligature has other uses. When, in prolapsus of the uterus, 
the organ cannot be reduced, or is the seat of extensive lesion, a 
strong rubber ligature can be applied at its base, the organ amputated 
below it, the stump thoroughly disinfected and then returned into- 
position. All hemorrhage can be prevented by the application of 
the Esmarch bandage before the prolapsed uterus is amputated. 
Cagny has recommended elastic ligature for the amputation of the 
-tailofa horse. The most painful part of this operation is not the ° 
section of the tissues, but the cauterization ; and in certain breeds ~ 
of horses, the application of the red hot iron gives rise to violent re- 
actions. One may avoid the cauterization by placing, before the 
amputation, an India-rubber ring immediately above the place where 
it.is to be made. Some say it must be left on for eight days, but it 
may be taken off after 24 or 48 hours. Its use in our hands for removal of 
latge cap. elbow, has not given us good results, on account of the large 
wound left after the sloughing of the growth, which in one case required no. - 
less than three months before complete cicatrization occurred. Elastic 
ligature has also been used to obtain temporary hemostasis in bloody 
operations upon the extremities. 
Vv. 
CAUTERIZATION—FIRING. 
We shall not stop for the consideration of cauterization with chemical ‘, 
agents. This was much. practised in former times to slough altered struc- 
tures or to destroy neoplasms; to-day it is almost abandoned. It is a long, 
painful process, and is not even good for most tumors; under their super-- 
ficial layers when destroyed, the irritated neoplasm grows, granulates, and: | 
Ny 
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