(6o) HlSrORT of the SOCIETT. 



Mcmm\ of throuch the rino:, fo as to force it back, which is eflentially ne- 



W, Hamilton. ° , ^. i i • i 1 i • 



ceffary to ready reduction, and v^rhich we can always do in 

 men, from the loofenefs of the fkin at the top of the fcrotum. 



" Upon examining the ftate of the parietes of the belly in 

 women, and comparing them with thofe of men, I fee no reafon 

 for their being more fubjed: to femoral hernia than bubonocele, 

 though in general I think them lefs liable to tlie difeafe altoge- 

 ther than men. The figure of the pelvis makes Paupart's 

 ligament a little longer in them, but the fpace under it is in pro- 

 portion as well filled vip by mufcles, veflels, and fat, i^c. fo that 

 no more room is allowed for the vifcera to be forced ovit in the 

 one than in the other. The rings of the mufcle in women, 

 though lefs apt to yield, as being more contracted than in men, 

 are in proportion the weaker part, and therefore the paflTage 

 through which a vifcus will be more readily pufhed. In opera- 

 ting upon this fpecies of bubonocele, I varied a little from the 

 common method. As the tumor extended along the bending 

 of the thigh, my incifion being made in this diredlion, was pa- 

 rallel in fonie meafure to the ring. This made the introduclion 

 of the biftory, to cut the tendon, a little more difficult, but it 

 gave me advantages to counterbalance this inconvenience. I 

 liad after the redviflion a piece of integuments above the inci- 

 fion, which when preffed down covered the ring. This foon 

 ibrmed adhefion with the parts below, and effe(fl:ually excluded 

 the expofure of the cavity of the abdomen, which adds much 

 to the danger of the operation. In the common operation, 

 where the ring is laid in view, and is at the bottom of the 

 wound, the integuments over it having been divided, I fufped 

 the inflammation on the edges and bottom of the wound, which 

 is kept open, extends through the ring to the peritoneum, alto- 

 gether independent of the expofure, and produces very fatal ef- 

 fedls. Now, in my method, this was prevented ; the integu- 

 ments being found immediately over the ring. In drefling the 



wound 



