696 
DEPARTMENT OF SURGERY. 
I regret to feel at liberty to criticise the profession at large, 
but it does not seem to me that the majority of practitioners at¬ 
tain the success they should in this operation. Probably for 
lack of proper instruction in our colleges, uncleanly habits, and 
absolute indifference because the patient is a dog. It was with 
actual disgust that I witnessed the u spaying ” of a bitch at the 
meeting of the U. S. V. M. A. at Omaha two years ago. The 
operation was performed on a heap of manure in the open air, 
with the thermometer registering about 40° F. (estimated). 
I never heard or saw in print the result of this piece of bar¬ 
barous butchery, and do not believe the profession can receive 
any betterment by permitting such outrages before a represen¬ 
tative body. 
My own practice is to adhere to every detail of antiseptic 
surgery, which can be followed out only in an appointed oper¬ 
ating room. 
Preparation of the Patient for the Operation .—The bitch 
should be in good health (unless the operation is being per¬ 
formed for some pathological cause), and if not, the operation 
should not be performed. Saline laxatives should be given for 
a day or two before the operation, and the diet should consist of 
milk, eggs, etc. 
An operation of election should not be undertaken during a 
menstrual period. However, when the operation is to be per¬ 
formed to relieve some pathological condition, no attention 
should be paid to the factor of menstruation. 
On the day previous to the operation, the dog should be 
bathed, and the abdomen shaved from the point of the sternum 
to the pelvis, and about four inches wide. The animal should 
not be fed on the day of the operation. 
The following articles should be provided : 
Two ordinary hand basins, one containing 15 gauze sponges 
111 a 1 to 2000 sol. of hydg. chlor. at a temperature of 115 0 F. 
(to be used for sponging the wound), and the second for wash¬ 
ing the hands of the operator. A metal cone for administering 
the ether, absorbent cotton, flexible collodion, ether, a four-yard 
rolled bandage, and an eight-string bandage (with four holes 
.cut, one for each leg, the strings to tie over the back), and the 
following instruments : 12 artery forceps, 1 scalpel, one pair of 
scissors, one probe, three threaded needles and one wire ecraseur, 
all of which should be boiled for twenty minutes at some time 
previous to the operation. 
At the operation these should be submerged in a shallow 
