244 VETERINARY SURGICAL OPERATIONS 



inguinal region. These desiderata are found in the Miles or 

 the Knowles harnesses properly adjusted. 



The operating tables, unless the subject is anaesthetized 

 have nothing to recommend them above the harnessess, be- 

 cause the parting of the hind legs by lifting the uppermost 

 one toward the ceiling is unsafe to both the patient and the 

 operator, and if the exposure of the scrotum is effected by 

 simply drawing the uppermost leg forward the accessi- 

 bility of the region is found' insufficient. Whenever horses 

 are to be castrated upon the operating table chloroform 

 anaesthesia should be included in the restraint. 



TECHNIQUE OF STANDING CASTRATION— 

 First Step. — Disinfection of the Field. — Good cleansing of the 

 scrotum must not be omitted, although the systematic dis- 

 infection by washing is more difficult to carry out than 

 when the parts are exposed by casting and tying. In or- 

 der to facilitate matters in this connection a stronger anti- 

 septic solution is used and the washing is restricted to the 

 outlines of the dependent parts of the scrotum. Mercuric 

 chloride, 1-200, briskly rubbed into the stretched skin with 

 pledgets of cotton which are cast off as they are soiled is 

 the most effectual rapid disinfection. Washing of the whole 

 region with soap and water previous to the application of 

 the antiseptic solution is advisable only in exceptionally 

 tractable horses accustomed to such baths, in which there 

 is no danger of provoking a suspicion that anything unusual 

 is about to occur. In short, disinfection, important as it 

 is, must not materially delay the proceedings nor provoke 

 rebellion at the very onset. 



Second Step. — Position of the Operator. — The surgeon 

 stands on the near side, a safe distance anterior to the 

 stifle, at extreme arm's length from the scrotum, and far 

 enough outward to avoid touching the horse's body with 

 the shoulder, arm, elbow or forearm. No part of the 

 surgeon's body should touch the horse except the hand, 

 and that should touch only- the scrotum. If any part of the 

 opefator's body presses against the horse's abdomen or 

 flank as the operation proceeds, he will tend to lean over 

 and even fall suddenly during some painful step of the 

 operation. This particular position must be adopted as an 

 absolute law, not only to prevent the tendency to lean over 

 and to fall, but also to escape personal injury from a kick. 

 The kick of a horse at a castrator attempting to operate 

 in the standing position is a forward one, deflected outward 

 about six inches from a straight line connecting the patella 



