CHAPTER IV. 



CJiSTRJlTIOW JtND SPAYING. 



Castration. 



SYNONYMS. — Emasculation; gelding; caponizing (in 

 cocks). 



DEFINITION. — Castration is the ablation of the testicles. 



INDICATIONS. — The operation is practiced exten- 

 sively, in fact almost universally, on domestic animals; only 

 the highest types of individuals intended for breeding pur- 

 poses, escape the operation. 



Castration of young animals, before they have arrived at 

 .puberty, by intercepting the development of the sexual 

 nisus, creates an individuality that combines the effeminate 

 excellency of the female temperament to the strength, vigor 

 and endurance of the male physique. By nullifying the baser 

 passions it invites the evolution of the finer instincts, and al- 

 though the highest mental development is somewhat fore- 

 stalled, the docility, tractability and general good behavior 

 gained thereby more than compensate for the trivial loss in 

 a function (the mental) that is of so little importance com- 

 pared with the improvement of the physical elements for 

 every economic utilization. The slight stunting of the men- 

 tal faculties is in fact more desirable than objectionable. 



In the mature and the aged animal, castration produces 

 almost immediate impotence, but the impelling impulses for 

 sexual intercourse are retained for a long while, waning 

 gradually during the succeeding months. In individuals that 

 have never been used for breeding purposes and which have 

 never developed strong impulses by cohabitation with the 

 opposite sex, the sexual desires fade more rapidly than in 

 studs. 



While one of the chief objects of animal castration is 

 the improvement of breeds by preventing procreation from 

 undesirable individuals, there are special reasons found for 

 the operation in the different species, each differing from the 

 other. In the equine species, the tractability is decidedly 

 improved ; cohabitation of the sexes is rendered safe ; and the 

 body escapes the exaggerated development of certain re- 

 gions which distinguishes the fineness of the gelding from 



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