CASTRATION BY THE CLAMS. 
96 
ticular cause. The most frequent is vice. I will now proceed to 
detail the mode of operating*, at as little length as possible ; leav¬ 
ing* to those who may be led to give it a trial, to come to their 
own conclusions. 
I will first describe the apparatus, which is very simple. 
Get a circular piece of any strong* tough wood, not liable to split 
or fracture; about four-and-a-half inches in length and between 
three quarters and one inch in diameter. Cut this fairly in two 
halves, lengthways; having first, however, cut a notch deep 
enough to receive two turns of whipcord around either end, 
about half an inch from it. Do not notch so deep as to leave a 
neck insufficiently strong. To lighten the clams , they may be 
plained, or scraped with a piece of glass, on the back or convex 
side, till each half is about a third less deep than wide. In the 
plane side or face of each half, an inch from the neck and one- 
fifth from the sides, form a groove or hollow. At its central or 
deepest part the groove is tw o-thirds the depth of the wood. And 
pow the clam is ready for the caustic. Ihis is an elaborate de¬ 
scription of so simple an implement ; but I am desirous that any 
one may perfectly comprehend. Here is a rough sketch of one 
of the halves of a clam. 
The caustic I have always used is not a powerful one—on the 
contrary; for I have heard and read of experiments and opera¬ 
tions with the stronger caustics where sloughing, haemorrhage, 
peritoneal inflammation, and other results, which have been fatal, 
have followed. Take of blue-stone, alum, and pipe-clay, in fine 
powder, equal parts ; mix, and form them into a stiffish paste 
with fat, and fill up the grooves in the clams with it, even and 
smooth. Let it stand to dry ; or rather, always have clams some 
time prepared. A piece of strong, not too thick, whipcord, cast 
double and looped over the notch, at each end of the clam , 
forms the fastening. The tongs for compressing the clam , when 
on the cord, preparatory to tying, are eight or nine inches long 
in the handles, and five or six in the blades. In either blade, 
about an inch from its end, is a notch to grip the clam in, and 
prevent its slipping whsn the pressure is applied. When about 
to operate, spare clams and pieces of whipcord should always 
be at hand, as the neck of a clam may fracture, or the whip¬ 
cord break, and neglect of the precaution prove embarrassing. 
