8 
F. MAURI. 
suits obtained. M. Degive, who followed his teachings, soon 
put them in practice, and in 1875 published an excellent 
paper in which he minutely described his method. In 1887, 
after numerous observations, he introduced a new modus 
operandi, to which he now gives preference, and in 1886 he 
gave a public demonstration of the operation before a large 
number of veterinarians and physicians. In 1889, on the oc¬ 
casion of the International Veterinary Congress, he castrated 
two animals in order to demonstrate the operation before 
French veterinarians. 
At the Saumur Cavalry School the operation is now ad¬ 
mitted in general practice, thanks to the- initiative of M. 
Capon, who in 1878 found among the horses sent there a col¬ 
lection of subjects of all breeds affected with the various 
forms of cryptorchidy, upon which no operation had been 
tried. Many of these animals were disposed of because of 
their wild disposition, and ten of the others were subjected 
to the operation, of which three became post-mortem sub¬ 
jects, one from lesions of peritonitis, one from hernia and one 
from lockjaw. 
Yet notwithstanding this, the castration of ridglings has 
not been accepted in civil practice, and this must not be con¬ 
sidered very surprising, for it is not ordinarily practiced in 
the veterinary schools, and as a consequence young gradu¬ 
ates do not dare to undertake it, considering it to be too del - 
cate and serious an operation for beginners, while the older 
practitioner refrains from fear of its results upon his reputa¬ 
tion—and who can be blamed ? It is in this condition of the 
question that I have recently undertaken the task of supply¬ 
ing a neglected part of our surgical teaching. 
In an operation of this kind, one or a few theoretical de¬ 
monstrations are not sufficient for the thorough initiation of 
the students, with a rational hope that at a later period they 
will venture upon an undertaking involving such hazard in 
even the most expert hands. It will be necessary for them 
to see the operation performed by their teacher, and also to 
perform for themselves an imitation or rehearsal of the neces¬ 
sary surgical steps on animals reserved for surgical experi¬ 
ments, following it with a regular post-mortem, showing the 
