278 
CORRESPONDENCE. 
operated upon. After careful dissection of the tissues surround¬ 
ing, carefully saving the hernial sac, this was opened and the 
portion of the omentum exposed and found thoroughly adherent 
to the spermatic cord ; both were removed in a mass with the 
ecraseur ; the walls of the hernial cavity were brought closely to¬ 
gether and a ligature of antiseptic silk applied as high as possi¬ 
ble near the superior opening of the inguinal canal. The mass 
of tissue below the ligature was excised and the wound dressed 
with pads of oakum dipped in camphorated oil, held in place by 
four strong sutures. After four days these were removed and 
the wound left to cicatrize as one of castration. Radical recov¬ 
ery was complete after three weeks. 
(3) Gangrene of the Penis .—This is a case somewhat simi¬ 
lar to one published some years ago in the Review, in which 
an empiric being called to castrate a stallion, found but one tes¬ 
ticle, removed it and mistaking the penis for the other gland 
applied wooden clamps upon it. Gangrene set in and a long 
piece of mortified penis had to be amputated. The wound 
granulated and it was hoped that the ejection of urine might 
give rise to the for;mation of a permanent fistula, large enough 
to take the place of a natural urethra. But by degrees the 
wouud began to contract and free incision had to be resorted to 
on two or three different occasions. The author was very anxi¬ 
ous to perform urethrotomy and try to make a permanent open- 
ino- below the ischial arch, but the owner would not consent 
and the horse changed hands. 
CORRESPONDENCE. 
bribe-taking by veterinary surgeons. 
Editors American Veterinary Review : 
Dear Sirs :—A horse dealer who has been sojourning in 
New York City during the past spring, where he disposed of a 
large number of high-class horses at private sale, was narrating 
his experiences the other evening in a large hotel to an audience 
of gentlemen, including myself, when he bitterly assailed the 
veterinary profession of Gotham, describing its members as “ a 
lot of suckers.” He said that in almost every instance where 
one of his horses had to be examined for soundness he was 
compelled to fee the examiner in order to have the horse passed, 
and that in two instances the veteriuarians had schedules of the 
amounts they demanded, as governed by the price of the horse. 
He further said that, 011 airing his complaint of the practice to 
