CASTRATION AND SPAYING 245 



to the olecranon. A position six inches from this line may 

 therefore be considered a reasonably safe one. 



Third Step.— Pulling Down the Testicle.— The testi- 

 cles are not always hanging pendulant; on the contrary 

 they are generally drawn upward by the full force of the 

 cremaster muscles. In young animals with short cords 

 they may even be hidden in the inguinal canal. To bring 

 them down sufficiently to incise the scrotum from this 

 rather disadvantageous, arm's length position is often no 

 small part of the operation. In an exceptionally tractable 

 subject the rule to not touch the body may be disregarded 

 and one hand passed between the legs from behind and the 

 other from in front, both of them meeting at the scrotum. 

 With the two hands engaged on the scrotum the testicle 

 is easily surrounded above with the left one and brought 

 down into operating position. When the two hands can 

 not thus be utilized on account of intractability of the 

 subject it is preferable to wait a few seconds until the in- 

 cessant pain of the twitch causes the cremasters to relax 

 and drop the testicles into the scrotum, at which moment 

 by gently passing the hand around the cord of the nearest 

 and gathering up the scrotum tightly in the grip, it can be . 

 firmly retained in an exposed position for the incision. It 

 is, ; however, essential to inspect the skin covering the testi- 

 cle to locate the median raphe so that the incision may be 

 made parallel to it, and sometimes to accomplish this object 

 the position of the hand must be changed. 



Fourth Step. — The Oscheotomy.— The incision of the 

 scrotum is made at one bold backward slash, a veritable 

 blow that may even bisect the testicle as well as neatly di- 

 vide all of its enveloping integuments. The incision must 

 never be slowly made nor be so incomplete as to fail to 

 drop the testicle. At the moment the knife strikes the 

 scrotum the assistant, previously instructed, gives the 

 twitch an extra turn to divert the horse's attention from the 

 short pang of pain that might otherwise provoke a vicious 

 kick. 



Fifth Step. — The Ablation.— The knife is now set aside 

 and the emasculator taken up leisurely to allow the testicle 

 to drop some little distance out of the incision. Generally 

 it is drawn upward for some moments after the incision is 

 made, but the contraction of the cremaster is soon relaxed 

 and the testicle comes down to the desirable position for 

 ablation in a few moments. A few extra turns of the twitch 

 will usually hurry matters somewhat. The forefinger of the 



