Castrati

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nds of illness, injury (wild boars were the most common cause), and accidents. These were the excuses given, on a kind of “Chinese whispers” basis.
Essentially, there are two types of castration: removal of all the genitalia (usually inflicted as punishment and often fatal) and removal of the testes only. Removal of only the testes was the procedure used to castrate these young boys. Many boys were castrated under the impression that castration alone would make them good singers. It has been estimated that at the height of the castrati's popularity in the 18th century, as many as four thousand boys a year were castrated in Italy. Unfortunately, very few of them became rich or famous.
The operation involved drugging the boy with opium, immersing him in a warm bath until he became (hopefully) numbed, and then the ducts leading to the testes were severed. Some recovered from this dangerous procedure, unfortunately many did not. The risk for the older boys could got serious complication and sometime to death. As a result of the operation, a castrati could have an extraordinary voice that might be broadened to three octaves higher than the normal male voice. There have also been rare cases reported of so-called "natural castrati" who were born with hormonal disorders that reproduce the desired effects of castration without requiring surgery. Castrati were undeniably different from other men.
Growth accelerates in the first half of puberty and reaches completion by the end. Body differences between boys and girls before puberty are almost entirely restricted to the genitalia. During puberty, major differences in size, shape, composition, and function develop in many body structures and systems. The most noticeable of these are referred to as secondary sexual characteristics. Castration before puberty prevents the boy's larynx from being fully transformed by the normal physiological outcomes of puberty. As a result, the vocal rang...