ASEPTIC CASTRATION OF MALE ANIMALS. 
269 
out on the fourth or fifth day, the clot removed, and the wound 
rinsed out once daily with sublimate solution, until healing oc¬ 
curs. It is noteworthy in these cases that we have healing by 
secondary intention, without suppuration. He castrated twelve 
horses, which varied in size from a pony to a very heavy draft 
animal, and in seven cases there was healing by primary adhe¬ 
sion on both sides ; in two cases on one side. The remaining 
wounds healed by secondary intention, so in twenty-four wounds, 
sixteen healed by primary adhesion, or sixty-six two-thirds per 
cent ; but from the results obtained in our operations it seems 
that it would decrease the danger to use boiled or distilled water 
to wash the scrotum before making the incisions, and also to 
wash away any blood after the testicle is exposed, and thus not 
allow any of the sublimate solution to enter the peritoneal sac 
of the scrotum, which would increase the danger of infection 
with the pus producing organisms (7), as the sublimate would 
act as a chemical irritant and produce the death of the adjacent 
cells, which would be a medium for bacteria to live upon until 
they gained a foot-hold and as the sublimate would combine 
with the albumen of the tissues and form an albufninate, it 
would not have any inhibitory action upon their growth ; while 
if such a few obtained entrance without the sublimate solution, 
the living cells would be able to overcome them and we would 
have practical sepsis. 
Of the thirteen cases operated upon here, ten healed by pri¬ 
mary adhesion on both sides and one on one side. The remain¬ 
ing wounds healed by secondary intention, which was much 
more rapid than it is by the usual methods of leaving the wound 
open, and in two of these wounds that healed by secondary in¬ 
tention, there was no perceptible pus formation. In all, there 
were twenty-six wounds, of which twenty-one healed by pri¬ 
mary adhesion or eighty per cent. The only complications oc¬ 
curring being hematoma in cases IV and VIII. In case IV the 
cord was ligated with catgut, which had been preserved in alcohol 
and which after being applied gradually became softened by 
the lymph in the tissues and relaxing allowed the spermatic 
