REPRINTS FROM BRITISH AND AMERICAN JOURNALS. 
27 L 
INTERNAL HAEMORRHAGE FROM CASTRATION AS A CAUSE 
OF DEATH. 
By J. H. Steel, Y.S. 
One of a number of cast ponies (castrated, under orders, be¬ 
fore sale to the public as quite unfit for army transport) had been 
operated on by the scraping method, by one of the senior stu¬ 
dents of the Army Veterinary School; several beds were “ going” 
simultaneously under my supervision, so I did not observe if this 
animal was “scraped” with sufficient deliberation or if undue 
tension was put on the cords. He seemed to receive exactly the 
same attention as the other fifteen castrated on this beckon the 
same morning. The operator, an artillery shoeing-smith, had 
frequently castrated before. In three hours time the little ani¬ 
mal was reported dead. There had been no external hemorrhage 
and he had shown no signs of discomfort sufficient to attract the at¬ 
tention of the European Warrant Officer in charge, an experi¬ 
enced transport official. As the ponies of this transport had 
been dying suddenly from Surra, the pony was considered possi¬ 
bly a victim to that insidious disease; however, a post-mortem 
examination showed the peritoneal sac occupied by a recent blood 
colt moulded into form as it were by the abdominal viscera. The 
cords seemed quite healthy, but one of them had been cut off too 
short. 
Remarks. Although cases of external hemorrhage are not at 
all rare, 1 have no previous record of internal hemorrhage follow¬ 
ing castration quite unaccompanied by any external indication of 
blood-flow. The actual loss of blood here was inconsiderable (un¬ 
less much had been re-absorbed before post-mortem examination), 
quite insufficient to have caused death had it escaped externally. 
—{Ibid.) _ 
COMPLICATED SPLENIC DISORDERS. 
By Sorabji K. Nariman, B.Sc., L.M. and S. 
A gray entire ghari horse, much overworked and in extreme 
poor' condition, the result of obscure disease of long standing. 
The animal was admitted on the 12th of October, 1886, a little off 
feed, with fever and occasional cough. Pulse weak and about 
