susceptible to pleurisy and pneumonia. This is especially true of young
colts.

_Inguinal hernia_ or "_rupture_" may complicate the operation. This form of
hernia is quite frequently met with in pigs, and only occasionally in the
other animals. This complication is usually overcome by practising what is
commonly termed the covered operation. The pig is usually held or hung up
by the hind legs. A larger animal is placed on its back. The hernia is
reduced by manipulating the mass of intestines with the fingers, so that
they drop back into the abdominal cavity. The part is carefully cleaned and
disinfected and an incision made through the scrotal wall, and the thin
covering or serous sac in which the testicle is lodged is exposed. The
testicle with the cord and covering is drawn well out of the scrotum and
held by an attendant. The operator then passes a needle carrying a strong
silk thread through the cord and covering, below the point where he intends
severing it. The needle is removed and the cord and covering ligated at
this point. The cord is then cut off about one-half an inch from the
ligature, and the incision in the scrotum made plenty large in order to
insure drainage.

It is very essential to the success of this operation that the animal be
dieted for twelve or eighteen hours before attempting to operate. The
after-treatment consists in giving the animal separate quarters and feeding
a light diet.

_Enlarged or scirrhous cords_ follow infection of the wound, usually with
spores of a certain fungus (_Botryomyces_). This complication more often
follows castration of cattle and pigs than of colts. Wrong methods of
operating, such as leaving the stump of the cord too long and insufficient
drainage for the pus and wound secretions, are the factors that favor this