CASTRATION, the removal of the testi cles or ovaries of animals. Castration is usually performed to limit reproduction, to change the character of the working animal, making him more docile and easier to train, or to improve the quality, of meat for,eating, akin capons. In human beings castration is a sur gical procedure and is usually performed for the relief of some irremediable or malignant disease. Thus in tuberculosis and cancer of the testicles, and in malignant or painful disease of the ovaries, the operation is justifiable. There has been a large amount of needless removal of the ovaries in women. The after results are often more annoying than the original disease.
The change produced in men by emascula tion is highly remarkable, giving rise to physi cal and psychical alterations nearer the female type. The elasticity of the fibres and muscles is weakened, and the subcutaneous tissues be come filled with a much larger quantity of fat; the growth of the beard is prevented; the upper part of the windpipe contracts considerably, and the castrate acquires the physiognomy and voice of a female. The most numerous class of castrates are those who are made such by the removal of the testicles. Another class are not deprived of the parts of generation, but have them ingeniously injured in such a manner as to leave them the faculty of copulating, but deprive them of the power of begetting. Juvenal mentions these as the particular favor ites of the licentious Roman ladies. To the third class belong those who are entirely de prived of their genital members. They are used in preference, by the Turks, as keepers of their women. The castrates of all three classes are called eunuchs. Those of the third class, to distinguish them from the two others, are frequently termed entire eunuchs. The word eunuch is Greek, and signifies ((guar& or of the bed.° The castration of adults produces some change in the disposition, but little in the bodily constitution. According to
the accounts of ancient historians, the Lydians, celebrated for effeminacy, castrated women. The latter are said to have used these beings as guards of their wives and daughters. With females the operation produces a completely opposite effect to that which it has on men. The character changes, a beard appears on the chin and upper lip, the breasts vanish, the voice becomes harsh, etc. Boerhaave and Pott relate medixval instances of this kind. Among the evils which religious fanaticism has at all times produced, castration is conspicuous. The Emperors Constantine and Justinian were obliged to use their utmost power to oppose this religious frenzy, and could put a stop to it only by punishing it like murder. The Valer ians, a religious sect whose minds had been distracted by the example of Origen, not only considered this mutilation of themselves a duty which religion imposed on them, but believed themselves bound to perform the same, by fair means or foul, on all those who came into their power. In Italy the castration of boys, in order to form them for soprano singers, was in use for a long time. Clement XIV prohibited this abuse, which, notwithstanding, did not cease till comparatively recent times, and in some Italian towns was not only suffered but exer cised with such shameful openness that the practitioners gave public notice of their pro fession. In modern times severe laws were enacted against castration, and the custom is probably now extinct. Beings thus mutilated were common on the European stage. It is remarkable _that so odious and unnatural an operation should produce the fine effect on the tones of the singer, which all had to acknowl edge notwithstanding the disagreeable effect of the association.