REPORTS OP CASES. 
255 
REPORTS OF CASES 
A MELANOTIC TUMOR ON THE END OF THE SPERMATIC CORD. 
WEIGHT THREE POUNDS. 
By N. Recktenwahl. 
Pittsburgh, June 10, 1881. 
Editor American Veterinary Review : 
Dear Sir :—I desire to relate an operation which I per¬ 
formed on the 9th of June, on a bay gelding twelve years old, 
the property of William Penny, of Birmingham, if you think 
it of sufficient interest to insert in the Review. 
I was called to see the horse, and on examination I discovered 
a tumor on the spermatic cord, and I advised the owner of the an¬ 
imal that an operation would be the only and best treatment I 
could propose. The owner, however, did not like to risk the oper¬ 
ation, but it grew larger, and as he saw no other means of get¬ 
ting rid of it I was requested to operate. I then cast the horse 
and secured him well, laying him on his back. I made an incis¬ 
ion over the tumor, ten inches long, and dissected it out all 
around up to the spermatic cord and artery. Having done this, I 
put a castrating clamp, ten inches long, under the tumor and 
on the cord, as if I was about to castrate him in that way. 1 then 
cut the tumor off, and left the clamp on for one day. I cut a vein 
during dissection which I twisted until it stopped bleeding. The 
wound bled considerably during the operation, but this I did not 
consider anything serious. I then allowed the horse to yet up, 
and rubbed him off, and the owner led him home by walking. 
The vein I twisted opened again and bled freely, and so I applied 
Monsel’s salt, (?) which stopped the bleeding, and I gave a wash 
composed of: 
Carbolic acid 2 dr., 
Glycerine 2 oz., 
Aqua q s 1 pt. 
to be applied with a spray syringe three times a day. On the 
17th I took the clamp off and the horse was eating and drinking- 
well. The horse did well and in four weeks the wound was 
healed. 
