For three days he is allowed nothing to drink, and is not allowed to pass his urine, the urethra being filled with a pewter plug.

It generally takes about one hundred days for the wound to heal, and two per cent of the cases are fatal.

There is nocturnal incontinence of urine for a long time after the operation.
Examples of castration because of excessive cupidity, etc.,--a most unwarranted operation,--are quite rare and are usually found among ecclesiastics.

The author of "Faustin, or le Siecle Philosophique," remarked that there were more than 4000 castrated individuals among the ecclesiastics and others of Italy.

The virtuous Pope Clement XIV forbade this practice, and describes it as a terrible abuse; but in spite of the declaration of the Pope the cities of Italy, for some time, still continued to contain great numbers of these victims.