186 HEALTH AND DISEASE 



The subcutaneous connective tissue is then to be torn through and 

 pushed aside with the fingers, until the outer ring of the inguinal canal 

 is reached. Sometimes the testicle is found immediately within it, in 

 which case it will be seized and removed by passing the ecraseur around 

 the cord by which it is suspended. In other instances it is placed higher 

 up in the canal, and in some cases it is found in the cavity of the belly. 

 Whether it be found in the one place or the other it must be brought out, 

 or the chain of the ecraseur must be carried to it and placed around the 

 cord, and by slow but continuous turns of the screw divided. Should any 

 difficulty arise in meeting with it in the abdomen, the hand should be passed 

 to the upper surface of the bladder, where the vas deferens, a firm tube 

 about two-thirds the diameter of a lead pencil, will be found, and this 

 followed in a forward direction will lead to the testis. 



When the abdomen is opened and the internal ring enlarged, there is of 

 course some danger of escape of the intestines. This may be guarded against 

 by suturing the skin closely with interrupted sutures of silkworm gut, and 

 in some measure also by allowing the horse to rise from the ground while 

 lying on the side from which the testicle has been removed. This done, 

 my friend Professor Hobday suggests that the skin be covered with 

 iodoform and collodion (l to 10) or orthoform and collodion (l to 8). 



From a consideration of the following table of cases operated upon by 

 Professor Hobday, it will be seen that — 



In 36 instances the right testicle alone was missing, whilst in 29 the left 

 was the offending organ. 



In 1 1 of the cases both testicles were concealed. 



In 39 instances the organ was found in the abdomen, and in 43 it was 

 in the inguinal canal. 



In 2 instances (27 and 69) one or both testicles were entirely absent, 

 and in 2 others (68 and 75) the missing testicle was not found after a 

 prolonged search. 



It may be mentioned that death occurred in only 4 out of the 77 

 cases. 



