500 
DEPARTMENT OF SURGERY. 
tion in veterinary surgery. It is performed upon all domestic 
animals, large and small, old and young, and as the live stock 
industry of the country increases it is prone to become more 
and more a special and important part of the veterinarian's 
duties. Where once the non-professional spayer was the only 
one to perform these operations the educated veterinarian with 
his increased knowledge is being called upon to perform them. 
The latter with his accurate knowledge of surgical anatomy 
and pathology needs only to borrow the surgical technique and 
dexterity of the former to finally monopolize this entire domain, 
and until we have done so we are ill prepared to criticise the 
methods of even the most uneducated spayer. His superior 
dexterity will easily overbalance our superior knowledge of 
surgery because of the striking resistance most of the domestic 
animals offer to septic processes. Add, however, the dexterity 
of the former with the knowledge of the latter and the diminu¬ 
tion in serious sequelae at once becomes apparent. 
Besides adhering strictly to the general rules by which all 
surgical operations should be performed the spayer must follow 
particular means of restraint, particular surgical positions for 
the patient, special locations for the incision, special means of 
exploration and finally special methods of resection, all of which 
vary according to the genus' upon which the operation is per¬ 
formed. We will therefore discuss the subject in three chap¬ 
ters—viz. : 
(1) Ovariotomy of Equidse. 
(2) Ovariotomy of Bovidse. 
(3) Ovariotomy of Carnivora and Omnivora. 
OVARIOTOMY OF EQUIDA3. 
Aside from a number of rare pathological conditions the 
only indication for the operation in mares is so-called nympho¬ 
mania, a condition manifested by vicious switching of the tail 
simultaneously with micturation of small amounts of slimy 
urine. Such animals always have “bad tempers,” which they 
are prone, to display on the least provocation by kicking, biting 
or striking, and when bred they usually prove sterile. 
Operation .— [Through the courtesy of Dr. W. E. Williams, 
Professor of Veterinary Surgery and Obstetrics at the New 
York State Veterinary College, we are able to give the readers 
of the Review the following detailed description of the method 
adopted at his clinic] : 
Instruments. —Colin’s scalpel, ecraseur 55 cm. long. 
