ON GELDING OF PIGS, AND THE HEALING 
POWER IN THE PIG. - ~ — 
By the same . 
The plaguy rigs are never worth their meat— 
They neither feed, nor are they tit to eat; 
The Vet. who cannot cure this with his knives, 
Need ne’er court favour with our Ayrshire wives. 
Although there is usually no more difficulty in opening the 
side of a pig, and extracting the testicle from the cavity of the 
belly, than in the common operation of spaying, it may not, now 
and then, be quite easy to get at the testis on the opposite side, 
especially if its cord is very short. When this occurs, I introduce 
the tenaculum, and hook it out to the external surface. 
In July 1832 I was requested by Mr. Barr, farmer, of Giffin 
Castle, to castrate a pig. Having laid the animal on a table, 
and while I was in the act of cutting through the peritoneum, one 
of the assistants lost his hold. The pig sprung up, and the 
scalpel was plunged deep into the belly. I proceeded to extract 
the testicles, but saw that some of the intestines were wounded, 
as faeces were escaping from the opening in the side. The greater 
part of the small intestines had to be drawn out by the opening 
before the injury could be discovered. The knife had entered 
deep among the convolutions of the ileum, and divided one of 
the guts almost through, and it had also made a considerable 
wound in the mesentery. 
A fine needle and thread were immediately procured, the gut 
and mesentery were nicely adjusted and sewed together, and re¬ 
turned into the belly; the side was secured by stitches, and the 
pig was liberated. I had not much hope of success in this case; 
but the healing power in the swine appears to be strong, for in 
two days afterwards little appeared to be the matter, and the 
animal soon completely recovered. 
CASE OF AN ADVENTITIOUS MEMBRANE IN THE 
VAGINAL PASSAGE OF A FILLY. 
By the same . 
In the month of November 1832 I was called to a young mare 
the property of Mr. Hine, farmer, of Kilkarnie, which he said had 
inverted her bladder. On my arrival I saw, protruding from the 
