480 
T. B. RODGERS. 
being in the right place, and on the right plane, I hope that 
most of you will agree with me that castration standing is 
not a legitimate operation of surgery. 
The fact of the matter is that when we come down to the 
bottom, castration standing is with most practitioners an 
advertisement—this only—and (with all due respect to the 
practitioners of it), an advertisement on a par with that of 
any sleight-of-hand performance. You might just as well tell 
your clients that you were prepared to do it with one hand 
tied behind you, and standing on your head. Do not forget, 
gentlemen, that you are professional men, and that until you 
are satisfied beyond cavil that a new surgical procedure 
groups around it all the known elements of safety, you have 
no right to use it for your personal aggrandizement. A great 
daily newspaper recently said that this was an age of quack¬ 
ery, let us keep the skirts of our profession clear of it. How 
shall we cast ? Perhaps a prior question should be, how shall 
we get on the hobbles, for I have seen this present no little 
difficulty. 
They can often be readily put on by the colt’s habitual 
attendant, even when the veterinarian cannot get near him ; 
and it is often easier to put them on in the stall than after the 
colt is brought out. I always put on the hind hobbles first. 
When difficulty arises in putting on the hind hobbles it may 
often be surmounted by passing a long rope under the fetlock 
of the offending leg, and drawing it forward and outward. 
It can usually be thus held long enough to buckle on the 
hobbles. Lastly, if you can’t get them on or don’t put them 
on, use the method of Rohard. 
I cast by Liautard’s method, modified to suit my conven¬ 
ience. I place the main hobble on the off front foot and pass 
the chain successively through the D’s of the near front, near 
hind and off hind hobbles, throwing the colt of course on his 
near side. I take this course in preference to bringing back 
the chain through the D of the main hobble in order to let 
the patient kick freely when he first goes down; when he is 
freely using his legs he won’t hurt his back. I cannot let this 
opportunity pass without urging on you a pet theory of 
