416 
REVIEWS. 
REVIEWS. 
ANIMAL CASTRATION, by A. Liatttard, M.D., H.F.R.C.V.S., etc., etc. 
(Wm. R. Jenkins, New York, and Balliere*Kindall & Cox, London/1884.) 
This concise and complete little book of 148 pages is a verit¬ 
able godsend to the veterinary surgeon and to the rural econo¬ 
mist, in these days of superstition, when animals are still gelded 
at the wane of the moon, and educated veterinary surgeons buy 
“ secrets ” of “ difficult operations ” from self educated gelders, 
whose long practice has simply made them expert in performing 
what any good anatomist should do. Professor Liautard com¬ 
mences with a short review of the early history of castration, and 
designates tlie causes which demand the operation. He calls at¬ 
tention to the change of form which gelding produces in the de¬ 
velopment of the animals, but might, perhaps, have laid more 
stress on the value of this change in selecting the age at which 
an animal is to be castrated, so as to remedy defects of breeding, 
and reduce or increase the proportion of development in the fore 
and hind quarters, and adapt the animal to the use for which he 
is intended—draught, hunter, etc. The author leaves the ques¬ 
tion of age of the animal and season of the year at which castra¬ 
tion is to be performed entirely to the discretion of the opera¬ 
tor. After the preparation of the animal as for any surgical 
operation, the author compares the merits of operating standing 
or after casting the horse, he calls attention to the risk of injury 
in casting young animals being nul, while the risk of struggles in 
the standing animal, the pulling of the spermatic cords, predis¬ 
posing to champignon, formation of hernia, etc., is great, and 
says, “ we submit the point to the intelligent judgment, whether 
in the presence of the possibilities of extremely dangerous acci¬ 
dents, it does not become the duty of the veterinarian to prefer 
the mode of securing this patient in the supine position, both in 
his own hehalf and that of his employer.” The anatomy of the 
iuguinal region and of the testicular organs is clearly treated, and 
the understanding of it is aided by several good plates through 
the book. 
