PRINCIPLES OF VETERINARY SURGERY 213 



subject, never occur in table restraint. It seems that 

 accidents with the ropes are inevitable. They will oc- 

 cur in some form or other, no matter what precau- 

 tions are taken. With the surgeon who has had a wide ex- 

 perience they are somewhat less frequent than with the new, 

 inexperienced practitioner, but none have an absolutely 

 clean record in this connection. Fractures of the vertebrae, 

 the pelvic arch, the femur, the humerus and even the tibia, 

 facial paralysis, radial paralysis and bruises, abrasions and 

 excoriations at the prominent points of the body, are the 

 more common accidents of this method. Another feature 

 of the method that cannot be overlooked is the exhaustion 

 induced by keeping a horse securely tied during an opera- 

 tion of long duration. The cramped position of the legs is 

 especially uncomfortable to the middle aged or the aged, 

 owing to the diminished flexibility of the articulations. In 

 animals suffering from spavin, diffused tarsitis or gonitis, 

 the pain of forced flexion is often so severe that the horse 

 rises with some difficulty after the operation is over. 



For the young horse^ for the brief operation, for certain 

 special operations already enumerated and for out-of-door 

 practice the ropes are useful and in fact indispensable. 



From the standpoint of accurate surgery, both pro and 

 con, premises are legion. The clean aseptic operations on 

 the limbs are best performed upon the table, while the in- 

 guinal operations are greatly facilitated by the rope method. 



The usefulness of the ropes for inguinal operations, and 

 the fact that they are easily carried about from place to 

 place, are the very best arguments in their favor. 



The Miles casting ropes, which are as practical and as 

 simple as any other, consist of sixty-five feet of hemp rope 

 seven-eighths of an inch thick, looped in the middle to form 

 a collar and wrapped at the cut ends to prevent unraveling 

 of the strands; two leather hopples made of two plies of 



