ASEPTIC CASTRATION OF MALE ANIMALS. 
257 
healing by primary adhesion, and if the wound is left open it is 
certain to become infected, so the only recourse is to close the 
wound by sutures and apply antiseptics to the parts until heal¬ 
ing occurs. 
The Aseptic Operation .—With a view of obtaining these re¬ 
sults, a series of operations were carried out under antiseptic 
precautions at the clinic of this college. The general method 
of proceeding was as follows : 
The animal was kept in the general ward one day in order 
to prepare it for the operation, and was fed a restricted laxative 
diet. The body of the animal was thoroughly cleansed and the 
sheath and scrotum well washed with soap and water. 
At the time of operating, the patient was taken to the oper¬ 
ating room, placed upon the operating table and chloroform 
administered. While this was being done, the scrotum and 
sheath were washed thoroughly with soap and water, after which 
the parts were wet well with sublimate solution, i-iooo; also 
the inner surfaces of the legs were moistened with this solution. 
As soon as the patient was anaesthetized the upper hind leg was 
drawn upward and forward out of the operator’s way. 
The instruments to be used were sterilized by being boiled 
for ten minutes in water, to which was added sufficient sodium 
bicarbonate to prevent oxidization of the instruments. The 
operator’s hands were thoroughly cleansed with soap and 
water, great care being taken to clean the finger-nails, after¬ 
wards washing the hands in sublimate solution, i-iooo. The 
sublimate solution was then washed off the scrotum with 
boiled water; the upper testicle grasped by the operator’s hand 
and an incision made through the scrotum at its most dependent 
part, parallel to the longitudinal raphe and from one to two 
inches on either side of it. This incision was just large enough 
to allow the testicle to slip out endwise. 
The testicle was grasped by the hand and gently drawn well 
out. In cases I, IT and III this was held by an assistant ; but in 
the others, was fixed with a clamp. 
A half-curved needle, threaded with sterilized catgut, was 
