CASTRATION OF COWS. 
313 
the operator withdraws first the blade of the bistoury, and then the latter. 
In case the peritoneum remains intact, the operator must attach it with 
thumb and first finger, drawing it into the wound and puncturing it with 
the bistoury ; the cut is easily sufficiently extended with the finger. I 
do not recommend the puncturing the peritoneum with finger, as is oc¬ 
casionally recommended, as it easily leads to the separation of the peri¬ 
toneum from the muscularis, and formation of sinus, which make the 
operation much more difficult. The ovaries are then to be sought lat¬ 
erally to the uterus with the first and second fingers, and in general first 
the left and then the right ovarium drawn into the vagina, and then 
with scissors separated from the ligaments close to the ovaries, or the 
attachment forceps may be used instead of the scissors. They must not 
be placed too near the ovary ; they must be closely pressed together 
with the thumb and first finger; the ovary can then be separated by 3-6 
torsions of the ovariotomy forceps. The entrance of air is impossible 
to avoid, however carefully we compress the vulvae, but does not seem 
to exert any consequential harmful influence. The entire opera¬ 
tion can be completed in three or four minutes. In regard to the 
formation of the transverse fold, this is always impossible if the 
vagina becomes distended ; a delay of perhaps ten minutes is caused 
thereby. 
The consequential phenomena following the operation are at first 
those of pain, the animals neglect their food and drink for one or two 
meals, lay down, extend the head and neck, gaze round at the abdomen, 
arch the back, and are sometimes meteorismically distended in propor¬ 
tion to the quantity of air which gained access to the C. abdominis 
during the operation. The meteorismus again vanishes in the course 
of 12 or 18 hours, followed by the phenomena of a light inflammatory 
fever. Although the appetite may now return, and the rations be com¬ 
pletely consumed ; although slowly the temperature of the rectum ap¬ 
pears to ascend from 30-30.3 R. (99.5-100 F.), of healthy animals, to 
31-31.4 R. (101.75 or 102.6 F.), and by all castrated animals appears 
•to remain stationary for almost four weeks, insignificant variations not 
considered. Violent disease phenomena may be expected if the tem¬ 
perature rise to more than 32 R. (104 F.), with concomitant sinking of 
the milk secretion during the first days succeeding the operation. 
Several cases of this kind, where the milk secretion was almost checked 
and the temperature increased to 32.2° R. on the second day succeeding 
the operation, died of peritonitis, or in consequence of abscess form¬ 
ation, while others which demonstrated like phenomena as regards the 
