CASTRATION OF THE BITCH. 
531 
at the hind-legs elevates them, allowing the intestines to grav¬ 
itate away from the incision, and any protruding omentum 
is sponged off and returned. To close the wound, the oper¬ 
ator stands on the opposite side to that which he occupied 
before, and placing the index finger of the left hand in the 
wound between the viscera and peritoneum, passes the first 
half of the stitch from without to within, taking a good hold, 
and not removing the finger until the needle touches it. The 
needle is now drawn through and out of the cavity, and the 
index finger of the left hand passed into the cavity, the peri¬ 
toneum on the opposite side is drawn up until its edge ap¬ 
proximates the cut in the muscles and the needle passed close 
to the finger from within to without. The ligature is now 
pulled upward, the finger being still retained in the cavity to 
ensure that nothing is included in the wound, and is tied, 
sliding the finger out as the final tension is applied. This 
stitch is passed midway of the incision, and one is now passed 
through the skin only on each side of it. 
The dog is now lifted gently down and liberated. The 
stitches are removed on the fourth day, and no solid food 
allowed until after their removal. What are the accidents 
incidental to the operation? The most annoying one is to 
break off the tender horn in a young patient through some 
sudden struggle and be unable to find the immature ovary 
without enlarging the wound. This accident happens less 
frequently as the practitioner becomes more experienced, and 
is followed by “ heat,” though, of course, the bitch cannot be¬ 
come pregnant. I have seen one death from shock in an old 
fatty-textured bitch. Occasionally a death occurs from peri¬ 
tonitis, but this is rare. Delay in removing stitches may lead 
to the formation of a troublesome fistula; this is best treated 
by freshening the edges of the canal with a needle. Some 
times, about a year after the operation, through attachment 
of a coil of intestine to the uterine stump, the lumen of the 
gut becomes wholly or partially occluded, and the animal 
pines, and dies. I have seen two such. On one occasion 1 
cut into a full bladder, mistaking it for the peritoneum. The 
wound was closed by interrupted suture, the abdominal cav- 
