•I 2 CASTRATION OF CRYPTORCHID HORSES. 



caused by soreness of the parts which have necessarily been 

 injured during the operation. It is not usually a cause for 

 alarm, and generally passes off without treatment. If anything 

 is necessary either an opiate or full dose of cannabis indica can 

 be given. 



Peritonitis, that bugbear of old-fashioned surgery, may occur 

 from septic infection (see Appendix, Case 43) either at the time 

 of operating or afterwards. The former has nowadays, thanks 

 to the application of modern antiseptic principles, become com- 

 paratively rare, and, to avoid the latter, the operator must see 

 that the loose box, or place in which the patient is to be placed, 

 has been cleansed and disinfected and otherwise made warm 

 and suitable. In regard to the after-dressings (where such are 

 needed), the person who applies them should do so with clean 

 hands, and the dressings themselves must be kept in a clean 

 place. When there is a lot of pus in the castration wound it 

 must be removed as thoroughly as possible, because the 

 organisms seem to have an exceptional faculty for reaching 

 the peritoneum through the medium of the injured cord in the 

 inguinal canal. Antiseptics should be used very freely. If 

 the interior of the abdominal wall has become infected the 

 patient may die within three or four days, or may linger for 

 three or four weeks. Recovery is possible, but the prognosis 

 must be very guarded. Antiseptics, opiates, .and stimulants 

 may be given internally at the discretion of the practitioner, 

 and hot blankets applied to the abdominal wall. 



Septicseraia, if the wound is not kept clean, may cause death 

 in about a weekor ten days (see Appendix, Case 35), especially 

 if during the operation the muscles of the thigh have become 

 lacerated so as to form little sinuses in which pus could lodge 

 and burrow if the wound became infected. 



Excessive swelling afterwards will cause the colt to be very 

 stiff in gait, and show signs of inconvenience and pain. As 

 a rule, exercise and antiseptic attention to the wounds will be 

 followed by relief in three or four days, although the application 

 of hot or cold water may be necessary. The chief precaution 



