284 



VETERINARY SURGICAL OPERATIONS 



ed. The operating table answers the purpose well. In the 

 standing posture a good dose of chloral or morphine is help- 

 ful, and in the recumbent posture general anaesthesia is al- 

 most indispensable. 



INSTRUMENTS, ETC., REQUIRED.— i.Colin's scal- 

 pel (Fig. 141) which has a well convexed blade safely 

 sheathed to prevent cutting until properly adjusted to the 

 seat of incision, is the best knife with which to make the in- 

 cision, although the common castrating knife, in lieu of the 

 former, may be made to answer. 2. Ecraseur, 22 inches 

 long, (Fig. 142) constructed so that the chain loop can be 



Fig. 141— Colin's Sheathed Scalpel. 



conveniently wound up with one hand, is indispensable; the 

 common ecraseur used for castration is inadequate. 3. A 

 syringe or pump to wash out the vagina. 4. Antiseptics, — 

 mercuric chloride, 1-1000; alcohol, 50%; and sodium bicar- 

 bonate, 1%. 



ANTISEPSIS.— The instrument should be boiled to a 

 point of absolute safety and then kept clean until used. The 

 hands are washed thoroughly with soap and water, rinsed in 

 mercuric chloride solution, dried with a friction of alcohol, 

 and then enclosed in a clean pair of gloves during the pre- 



Fig. 142— Reynder's 22 Inch Ecraseur for Ovariectomy. 



paratory steps of the operation. The tail is braided and then 

 tied up out of the way and the pudendum is submitted to a 

 good washing with soap and water and then with mercuric 

 ■chloride. To facilitate the passage of the hand into the va- 

 gina 2. little vaseline is smeared upon the lips of the vulva. 



First Step. — Disinfection and Dilation of the Vagina. — 

 The vagina of the subject is generally filthy and sometimes 

 irritated, necessitating liberal cleansing, yet in doing so it is 

 important not to provoke straining by injecting objectionable 

 liquids into it. Water with a little lysol, phenol or very weak 

 mercuric chloride at a temperature slightly in excess of the 



