288 VETERINARY SURGICAL OPERATIONS 



upward and to one side. The construction of such a stocks 

 is a matter of but a few moments, either in the cow stable 

 or out of doors. 



EQUIPMENT REQUIRED.— The instruments best 

 adapted for the operation are Colin's scalpel or common 

 castrating knife, 22 inch ecraseur, and a vaginal speculum or 

 vaginal stretcher. 



ANTISEPSIS. — In operating upon a number of animals 

 the antisepsis is somewhat difficult to maintain because of 

 the general contamination of everything connected with the 

 work. A reasonably safe state of cleanliness can easily be 

 established for a single operation, or for only a few, but 

 when a large number are hurriedly performed consecutively, 

 the washing basins, the sponges, the instruments and the 

 hands soon become more and more unsafe for intra-abdom- 

 inal manipulations. Where water is scarce, difficult to pro- 

 cure or is itself contaminated, there is much to be feared in 

 the possibility of seriously infecting a large per cent of the 

 animals operated upon. The most practical precautions in 

 this connection may be done as follows: (1) Rinse the pu- 

 dendum, tail and buttock with plain water. In order to 

 economize the water a large twenty-four ounce syring or 

 pump is used instead of sponges, for these, if carried back 

 and forth from patient to pail will necessitate the use of a 

 clean pailful for each animal, and even then the pail soon 

 become too filthy to be in any way associated with an ab- 

 dominal operation. To the water used for this rinsing pro- 

 cess creolin or lysol may be added. (2) The anus, and vulva, 

 following the rinsing process, are then washed with mercuric 

 chloride solution 1-500, using pledgets of cotton which are 

 cast off when soiled. To facilitate passage of the speculum 

 into the vagina the next step is to lubricate the vulval sur- 

 face with vaseline. (3) No washing of the vagina is at- 

 tempted, except in the individual operation where sufficient 

 time to do it properly can be allotted to this step of the an- 

 tisepsis. To wash the vagina perfunctorily is useless, and 

 in fact is more apt to cause infection than to .destroy it. 

 Unless the vagina can be submitted to a thorough cleans- 

 ing, consuming considerable precious time, much better re- 

 sults will be derived from leaving it strictly alone. The only 

 antisepsis necessary here is to give the seat of incision a 

 few good wipes with a pledget of cotton soaked in the strong 

 mercuric chloride solution, after the speculum has been ad- 

 justed and just before the incision is made; and even this 

 may safely be omitted. (4) The instruments are boiled to 

 assure absolute sterilization at the beginning; and to main- 



