SCRAPING.
This operation, which is said to have originated in India, is but a modification of the preceding. Instead, however, of using a sharp edged instrument to divide the cord, the surgeon, on the contrary, employs a dull knife, with which the coats of the artery and portions of the cord are scraped until the separation takes place. They are thus placed in good condition for their temporary closure. This method is probably attended with a diminished amount of hemorrhage, and if carefully performed, it may be entirely absent, the clot closing the artery, and the condition of the lacerated threads of the vessel acting favorably, as well, in preventing it. The manipulations are similar to those accompanying the simple excision, though it is better and more safely effected when the animal is on his back. The testicles being exposed by the incision through the envelopes, the posterior septum of the cord is cut through by a transverse section, and the scraping of the anterior fasciculus of the cord then performed, by a slow movement from above downwards, along a certain extent, in order to effect a solution of continuity by a sort of wearing through the tissues. This operation is slow and requires a careful hand for its execution. But as it may in some cases be followed by severe hemorrhage, it cannot, for that reason, be recommended for large animals, for solipeds especially.