207 



results follow the operation in any large percentage of cases, 

 there can be no doubt but that an animal occasionally dies as 

 the result of lock-jaw, and I have sometimes seen nasal catarrh 

 continue for several weeks after the operation. 



PREVENTION OF ACCIDENTS. 



If this operation is necessary at all — and I do not for a mo- 

 ment admit that it is —it should be performed at as early a 

 period in the animal's life as is practicable; but in the case of 

 animals with well developed horns, I again assert that it is gross 

 cruelty to cut deeply into the sensitive part of the horn — it is 

 sufficient to remove just so much of the extremity of the horn 

 as will leave a thin covering to the core. And animals which 

 evince an extraordinary propensity to viciousness should be 

 deprived of the power of indulging this propensity by segrega- 

 tion. 



Another plan for the prevention of goring is the affixing of 

 knobs on the extremities of the horns. The knobs may be of 

 wood, brass, or iron, according to the facility with which they 

 can be obtained; they need not be very large, and should be 

 made of some tolerably hard wood, so as to resist the effects of 

 blows, and also of heat and moisture. Knobs are usually fixed 

 in position by the aid of a nail or screw, which is passed through 

 the knob and the horn from side to side, a preliminary hole 

 being bored by a gimlet or an Archimedean drill. To this 

 practice various objections are urged by those who favor muti- 

 lation : ist, That pain is inflicted in the preliminary drilling. This 

 assertion can only arise from ignorance, for the actual depth of the 

 horn can always be ascertained by noting the difference in sound 

 when the horn is tapped with the handle of a gimlet or a small 

 hammer. 2d, That the affixing of knobs occupies more time 

 than does amputation. This assertion is only partially true, and 

 the facility with which " knobbing " can be practiced depends 

 upon the kind of tools used and the skill of the operator, and 

 even allowing that "knobbing" did take up more time, it 



