430 
CASES FROM MY NOTE- BOOK. 
recital of some of them may be somewhat interesting to the 
members of the profession. 
May 1st, 1856. — I was sent for to castrate three yearling 
colts, the property of a nobleman in this county. The first 
was operated upon in the usual manner, by means of clams. 
When unfettered, he rose and walked about perfectly well. 
No. 2 was castrated in the same way as No. 1. He rose up 
when released from the hobbles, staggered a few paces, fell 
down, and never afterwards stood up. No. 3 was then cast, 
and operated upon in the same manner. This last did not 
struggle much after he was secured, yet he never stood up 
afterwards. I particularly noticed that, in case No, 2 , the 
animal struggled violently, until the second testicle was tied 
with the clam, after which he became tranquil. These two 
colts were ordered by the owner to be destroyed. 
I shall not, upon the present occasion, offer any remarks 
as to the cause of paralysis in the above-mentioned cases, but 
will defer them until some future period, when I hope to be 
able to place upon paper the result of some experiments I 
have been making this year upon the various methods of 
castration. 
May 28th. — I was requested to fire the fore legs of a brown 
gelding, which were groggy. The groom imagined the firing- 
iron had a charm, and would put strength into the legs again. 
I objected to firing, giving my reasons for so doing. One 
was, that I did not consider the risk of casting ought to be 
run for such a case, as the operation would not prove bene- 
ficial to the horse. Moreover, I had fired the hind legs, 
much against my will , one month before, and, from observa- 
tions I had then made, I was apprehensive of the result — 
namely, that what is termed broken-back would occur. The 
horse, however, was cast, and easy enough, but his struggles 
when hobbled were most violent. The operation being over, he 
w r as released, but was unable to rise from the operating bed. 
After a careful examination I was enabled to ascertain that he 
had sensation to a perfect degree, but motion there was 
none. 1 had the poor brute assisted to rise and stand, and 
endeavoured to place him in slings, but all was to no pur- 
pose. The pain he suffered was so acute, that I deemed it 
best to allow him to lie down again, as I was of opinion he 
would not survive long. I did all I could to relieve his 
sufferings, but without result, as he died the following day. 
Case 3 was a chestnut mare, the property of a clergyman 
at Annestown. She was four years old, and in training by 
a horse-rider in the months of January and February last. 
After being ridden on the 3d of the latter month, she laid 
