HKRMIT. 



HERNIA. 



Maerobius < Saturn.', i. 19). According to some traditions, Hermes is 

 have buen born in Arcadia (' Pausan.', viii. 16, 1), and to have 

 been the father of Pan ; but according to another tradition, he was 

 barn at Tanagra in Boaotia. (' Pausan.'. ix. 20, 3.) He was worshipped 

 by tho Thessaliant above all other deities. (' Herod.', v. 7.) 



In Homer the name of this deity is usually Hermeias. He is 

 represented as th* messenger of Zeus and the gods, and he conducts 

 the souls of the departed to Hades. In later times he was regarded as 

 the god of eloquence ; but this no doubt arose from the association of 

 skill of speech with the herald's office. As god of eloquence tongues 

 of animals were offered to him. Hermes was the inventor of the 

 alphabet ; of numbers ; of music, and of musical instruments, as the 

 lyre and the syrinx ; also of weights and measures, and various other 

 things. He was the patron of merchants and of gain, and even of 

 thieving of all things in fact the exercise of which required prudence, 

 cunning, and dexterity. And he was the protector of travellers, 

 heralds, poets, musicians, and of those engaged in gymnastic exercises. 



All the accounts from Homer downwards, unite in attributing to 

 him extreme acuteness, and a propensity for thieving. One of his very 

 earliest deeds, according to some writers within a few hours of his 

 birth, was to steal the oxen of Apollo, from Pieiria, though 

 place it at a later date. His later adventures mostly turn on the 

 exercise of his talent in speech, his cunning, or his dexterity evinced 

 in his employment as the messenger of the gods. He also acted as 

 charioteer and cupbearer to Zeus. He was active, full of bodily 

 vigour, swift of foot, fertile in resources, cheerful, sensual. 



The statues of Hermes, which were originally square blocks with a 

 carved head upon them, were placed in the doorways of most private 

 houses and temples at Athens. They were also erected where several 

 roads met, to point out the way, and in the gymnasia, or 'public places 

 of exercise. In early art, Hermes is usually represented with a 

 chlamys, or cloak ; a petasus, or travelling hat ; talaria, or winged 

 Tn/m" ; and a caducous (mifvKtiov in Greek) or wand, with two serpents 

 twined about it, in his hand. Originally the kerukion was an olive 

 branch or staff Hermes among his many benefits having taught man- 

 kind the mode of cultivating the olive. In later examples the chlamys 

 is much reduced in size ; the petasus is almost always, and the caduccus 

 often, a pair of wings ; and the god holds a" purse in his hand, or is 

 frequently represented with the right hand uplifted as the god of 

 eloquence. In small works he is figured as psychopompos, cot 

 souls to Hades, Ac. The representations of the deity in ancient works 

 of art are very numerous, whether as single figures or as a portion of a 

 group. 



The original seat of the worship of this deity appears to have been 

 Arcadia, whence it spread all over Greece. Temples dedicated to him 

 were numerous, both in Greece and Rome. The festivals of Hermes 

 were in Greece called llcrmaia, ("Eptuual 



The Egyptian god Tholh, was colled Hermes by the Greeks. His 

 attributes correspond in many respects with those of the ' 

 deity. According to Plutarch (' Sympos.' Probl. 3), the Egyptian 

 Hermes is .-aid to have invented letters in Egypt. According to 

 Diodorus Siculus, who appears to have confounded tho attributes of 

 the Egyptian and Grecian deity, he was the inventor of almost all the 

 arts and sciences : a vast number of works are attributed to him. 



H KRMIT, more properly Eremite, from the Greek ipmiin^, signi 

 tying an inhabitant of a desert, is tho name given to such religious 

 persons as retired from society without becoming members of any 

 monastic community. The distinction between hermits and monks, 

 and the origin of both, are explained under the term MONACHISM. See 

 also ANCHORET and As. 



HERNIA (from fynt, ernot, a branch), signifies the protrusion ol 

 any organ from its natural position in the body ; as hernia eerebri, 

 hernia pulmonis, when the brain or lung protrudes through an aperture 

 in the skull or the chest. But when used alone, this term means 

 what is commonly called a rupture, that is, the protrusion of any por- 

 tion of the intestinal canal from the cavity of the abdomen. 



Hernia: sometimes form without any evident cause, the intestine 

 being gradually protruded; but more frequently they result from .-om. 

 violent bodily exertion, as lifting heavy weights, excessive coughing or 

 straining ; or from sudden jarrings or shocks, as in jumping or falling ; 

 or from blows on the abdomen. 



The general characters distinguishing a hernia ore, a tumour, neither 

 red nor hot, and often not painful, situated nt some part of the abdo- 

 men, most frequently in or near the groin ; largest when tho patient 

 stands up, and often disappearing entirely when he lies down ; distended 

 by coughing or other violent expiration, and liable t-> variation in si// 



by exercise or rest, by abstinence or taking food ; often 

 disorders of the digestive canal, as flatulency, colic, Ac. In the cases ii 

 which the hernia forms suddenly, as in consequence of a great exertion 

 the patient feels as if something had given way at the groin or other 

 part of the abdomen, and on putting his hand were he feels a ' 

 which may vary in size from that of a nut to that of his fist, is 

 elastic, hard, and tense, and soon after the accident becomes paint'u 

 and tender. In the other class of herniic, which may bo collet! 

 spontaneous, the tumour forms almost imperceptibly to the patient 

 and grows larger regularly but slowly ; is attended with no pain, )>ut 

 merely a sane .of weakness about the part ; and decreases greatly or 

 entirely disappears in the recumbent posture. If a hernia can be 



returned into the abdomen at pleasure, it is not by itself a dangerous 

 disease ; but if it become strangulated, that is, if the intestine is so 

 constricted by the parts through which it has passed that its contents 

 cannot pass through it, and its vessels are so much compressed that 

 active inflammation is excited, it constitutes one of the most - 



>ts to which the human body is liable. The symptoms in- 

 Heating strangulation of the intestine are obstinate constipation of tint 

 x>wels; |in and tenderness of the tumour, and spreading from it 

 over the whole surface of the abdomen ; extreme riisilisiiiiiins and 



anguor ; nausea and vomiting ; a hard, small, and rapid pulse ; thirst 

 and coldness of the limbs. If the hernia be not reduced, these 

 symptoms will regularly increase, till mortification of the intestine 

 ensues, and (except in some most rare eases) death rapidly follows. 



The above symptoms and other circumstances are common to all 

 lernite wherever situated, and are only modified slightly by the part 

 'f the abdominal contents protruded, the narrowness of the part 

 through which it is forced, and the constitution of the patient, 

 there are some local circumstances peculiar to each, according 

 ivartat which the intestine is protruded, which require to be noticed in 

 connection with the mode of returning each into the abdomen and of 

 retaining it there. 



The most frequent kind of rupture is the Inguinal, and it is fiir 

 more common in males than in females. It forms a tumour, occi : i 

 cither the groin alone, or extending thonce more or less obliquely 

 downwards between the thighs. To reduce it the patient should be 

 laid on his bock with hi* loins lower than either his shoulders or his 

 tups, and the knee of the side on which the hernia has formed should 

 be raised and turned a little inwards. The operator grasping 

 venient portion of the tumour with his right bond, should press it in 

 the direction contrary to that in which it hoe protruded, and 

 retain it, while with his left finger and thumb placed at the narrowest 

 part of the swelling he moves the intestine from Bide to side, alter- 

 nately pressing and relaxing it, so as to empty some of H 

 and force it into the abdomen. If any portion be pressed through, a 

 slight gurgling noise will be heard, and by continued efforts the h"!c 

 will most probably follow. 



An inguinal hernia may attain the size of an adult's head or more; 

 but a Femoral hernia, which is the kind most common h 

 rarely more than two inches in diameter. II '.y much less. It 



is usually of a rounded form, situated just l>elo- the groin. 

 inches from Hie mid.lle line of the body, and always feels hard and 

 tense. The principal constriction is deep in the thigh, directly under 

 the tumour, which tends to pass upwards over the groin. In n 1 

 it the position of the patiem .-inuiM be the same as for inguinal hernia 

 if the tumour be large enough to grasp, it should be pressed directly 

 backVards, as if to force it deeper into the thigh ; but if it can 

 grasped, it should be pressed ill the same direction, with 

 the thumbs placed side by side upon it. 



In rmbilical and Ventral hernia;, which come straight out from the 

 front of the abdomen, the globular and pendant tumours whieh they 

 form, and which often attain a considerable size, should be gi 

 with one hand, and pressed directly backwards towards the 

 while the opposite hand, as in inguinal herniic, guides the successive 

 portions through the aperture. 



Whatever be the situation or condition of a hernia, it sh. .uM 

 once, if possible, reduced. Tho patient should go to )*>d, an.i 

 lying a short time on his back, with his knees raised, the intestine ill 

 often of iteelf recede into the abdomen, especially if it hav. 

 frequently protruded; but if it do not, then tho manual operation just 

 described should be employed. The force used in it should never he 

 so violent as to give much pain, and in old herniir little or none should 

 be caused; nor soould the manipulation l>e continued for more ' 

 quarter of an hour .at a time. ; a- to bruise the tumour or 



make it tender. If it fail, there are several auxiliary means th .-.' 

 be employed, of which a selection must be made according 

 circumstances of each individual case. The warm bath should 

 tried in all cases; the patient should be placed up to the neck in 

 at a temperature of from 94 to Ion . : , MI | remain there till be becomes 

 quite faint. Any pain or irritation that previous attempts at reduction 

 may have produced will lie greatly relieved by these means, and the 

 state brought on by the buth is peculiarly favourable for the return of 

 a hernia, both by relaxing all the tissues surrounding it, and. v. In n 

 faintness occurs, by relieving the intestine from tho pressure of the 

 muscles, which often present the chief obstacle to its return, but which 

 in that state become powerless. As soon therefore as the . 

 plains of faintness, or after he has been in the bath for ten min 

 a quarter of an hour, an attempt should lie made to : 

 by manipulating it as already directed under water. In 

 robust men, and especially in cases where the hernia has r. 

 formed, bleeding to faintness, either before or while in th. 

 should be employed, and the same opportunity 



. The abstraction of 1)1 1 will ! useful, not only l.y the 



faintness which it produces 1 uralile slate for 



hernia, but by its relieving the inflammation which always arise 

 the intestine is strangulated, and by checking it in its fatal progress. 

 If the warm both and bleeding fail, tin- puient. should be 

 between warm blankets to recover from their depressing effects, and no 

 more manual attempts should be made for some time. The next 



