OVARIOTOMY IN THE DOMESTIC ANIMALS. 
403 
Dangers Involved in the Operation .—In the cow and mare 
there is a possibility of wounding some important arteries of 
the pelvic region, namely, the external and internal iliac or the 
posterior aorta; should this be done the animal will die in a 
few minutes. Such losses rarely occur. This will not happen 
if care be exercised when making the incision. Another dan¬ 
ger in both mare and cow is the puncture of the rectum by a 
misdirected incision, which would tend to fatality if the perito¬ 
neal sack be opened. In the cow we have the danger of punc¬ 
turing the rumen, which would give serious trouble and likely 
lead to death of the animal. In the smaller animals it is an 
easy matter to grasp the posterior aorta or one of the iliac arter¬ 
ies and rupture it. In all animals there is danger of infection 
being carried into the abdominal cavity and causing peritonitis, 
which may terminate fatally. 
The bitch, cat and pig are not so liable to infection as the 
larger animals, but such are not immune, and hence great care 
should be exercised in maintaining strict asepsis in operat¬ 
ing. 
Results Obtained from Spaying Mares .—Since opening 
the New York State Veterinary College in September, 1896, to 
the present date (March 24, 1900), there have entered in the 
clinics twenty-four mares for spaying, all of a vicious disposi¬ 
tion, and a large number more markedly so at the period of 
oestrum. Of these cases which have been carefully observed a 
large number, probably seventy-five per cent., have been ren¬ 
dered peaceable, docile and valuable work animals, from previ¬ 
ously almost worthless mares. The other twenty-five per cent, 
operated upon have in the majority of cases been rendered less 
vicious. In cases in which the animal persistently catches and 
tightly holds the reins with the tail the operation of caudal 
myectomy conjoined with spaying seems to have markedly ben¬ 
eficial results, completely obviating the difficulty. The results 
obtained at the New York State Veterinary College prove that 
in mares in which viciousness arises from the period of u heat,” 
spaying is a specific, also in cases of diseased ovaries, such as 
