TRANSLATIONS FROM CONTINENTAL JOURNALS. 115 
productions are frequently the dire consequences, and to this 
the author has given a long article. Passing the finger 
round the cord, as is sometimes done to break down the 
adhesions, is a practice, he says, to be condemned, for instead 
of preventing the production of scirrhus, it is more likely to 
cause it. Another cause is when the clams are placed too 
low, and part of the cord is exposed to the action of the air. 
Another danger, to be apprehended is that of peritonitis. 
In this affection the author remarks that the inflammation 
does not extend to the serous membrane of the abdomen, 
and he therefore considers the peritonitis of castration to be 
peculiar, resembling metro-peritonitis in the human subject. 
The method, without incising the scrotum, is the twisting 
of the cord (bistourage) ; the manipulation of which con¬ 
sists in passing the thumb between the erythroidal tunic 
and the dartos, separating these two membranes by a strong 
pressure through the scrotum, and thus effecting the sub¬ 
cutaneous torsion of the cord by a simple manipulation. 
This operation is more difficult in the solipedes than in 
ruminants, on which it has been practised anterior to the 
fourteenth century. The castration of small animals may 
be done by simple excision, or by drawing them out (arrache- 
ment), at the same time twisting the cord or not. 
The operation of castration by the hot iron in ruminants, 
as well as in the horse, was known to the ancients in the 
sixth century. It was then described by Palladius as a new 
discover}^, and as being preferable to those methods then in 
use. The castration of those animals affected with cryptor- 
cliidis or monorchidis the author gives a minute account of, 
and also of the necessity of operating in all cases where it is 
possible ; but the operation can only be undertaken when 
the testicles are near the inguinal ring. The modus operaridi 
varies little, notwithstanding the apparent discrepancies of 
the different authors who have performed this operation, as 
they all come to the same in the end, viz., the opening of 
the scrotum, the dilatation of the inguinal canal, the ligature 
of the testicle, &c. 
The first description of a similar operation is from M. 
Marrel, who operated on a monorchid horse in 1838. One 
of the testicles, which had descended, had been removed 
by bistourage. The animal, after being cast, Avas placed in 
the same position as for ordinary castration. The operator 
then made an incision in the lower part of the abdomen, 
just above the scrotum, and while an assistant maintained the 
intestines in their position, he searched for the testicle in 
the abdomen. He found the ring of the great oblique 
