5. CASTRATION 



This final therapeutic agency, the last resort, the indications 

 for which have become constantly more precise during recent 

 years, and the worth of which in certain cases is unquestioned, 

 is also to be considered here. 



The reasons for castration, as revealed by our numerous obser- 

 vations, are as follows : — 



a. Recurrent peripheral cyst-formation in one or both ovaries, 

 accompanied by nymphomania, when, in spite of frequently re- 

 peated rupturing of the cysts, a restoration to the normal condi- 

 tion cannot be effected. These conditions apply especially to 

 aged cows yielding more than three liters of milk per milking, in 

 which, in spite of repeated rupturing of cysts, a slight sexual ir- 

 ritation, such as a slight faUing in of the broad ligaments of 

 the pelvis and swollen vulva, persist. On the other hand, we 

 have not castrated any young breeding cows for years, because 

 of peripheral cysts, until after we had ruptured the cysts 6-8 

 times in an attempt to bring about recovery, and in several cases 

 it was not until after the cysts had been ruptured 8-12 times that 

 normal estrum and pregnancy resulted. 



b. Central or multiple cysts which cannot be broken by com- 

 pression nor evacuated by puncture. 



c. Finally, ovarian edema and ovarian abscesses. 

 The operation is contraindicated : 



a. In dumb estrum, loss of estrum due to atrophy and sclero- 

 sis of the ovary ; 



b. In ovarial tuberculosis ; 



c. In cancer of the ovary ; 



d. In nymphomania dependent upon disease of the oviducts, 

 the ovarian ligaments, the uterus or the vagina, such as serous 

 salpingitis, cystic formation in the ligamentous apparatus of the 

 ovary, tuberculosis and cancer of the uterus and vaginal polypus. 



e. In tuberculous, poor, cachectic animals. 



f. In cows with too narrow vaginae due to vaginal stricture.* 



[*The author apparently has in mind only the vaginal ovariotomy which 

 the pathologic condition prevents, but which could not influence the flank 

 operation. ] 

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