CASTRATION OF CRYPTORCHIDS. 
313 
ted, I had to introduce the whole hand in two cases. In one 
the testicle was so small that it was scarcely the size of a hazel 
nut. After taking hold of it several times, and still fearing a 
mistake, I then had recourse to Degive’s method to satisfy 
myself—that is, to feel for the neck of the bladder, and find¬ 
ing the deferent canal at its insertion, to trace it back to the 
epididymis and the testicle. 
My fourth cryptorchid I operated on a farm, and it gave 
me another surprise. As soon as my hand was introduced 
into the peritoneum the animal was taken with violent expul¬ 
sive efforts, which, pushing the left colon into the pelvic cav¬ 
ity, altered the relative position of the testicle, which then 
became impossible to follow. The hand was even powerless 
to find the efferent canal at the neck of the bladder. It took 
more than half an hour—after the horse, exhausted by his 
struggles and becoming quiet—for the testicle to resume its 
position, when it was then secured. It was as large as a hen’s 
egg. No complications followed this accident. 
If the hand, when entering the peritoneal cavity, is not 
too tired, and the fingers have retained their tactile sensibil¬ 
ity, it is easy to recognize the testicle and its epididymis. 
The organ is generally as large as an egg, somewhat flattened 
and elongated, and of a characteristic consistency. It is soft 
and yet elastic—the hand taking hold of it and isolating it 
completely. The ball of fasces for which it is sometimes mis¬ 
taken has a different form, less soft and without elasticity, and 
is readily crushed through the thickness of the intestinal 
walls. The continuity of the tube in which it is enclosed does 
not permit it to be isolated, and nothing about it can be com¬ 
pared to the peculiar annex represented by the epididymis of 
the testicle, which is more or less separated from the organ, 
always very soft, and easily detected by its two enlarged ex¬ 
tremities and by the flexuosities of the efferent canal, readily 
felt with the fingers. At any rate, as soon as the epididymis 
is secured, the testicle also soon will be, and it is then drawn 
into the inguinal tract without difficulty. However, when the 
entire hand has penetrated the abdomen, there is danger that 
an intestinal loop may follow the testicle into the inguinal 
