228 LIVER DISEASES. 



lated hernra is then said to exist. The seat of hernia is either in 

 the testicle bag of the perfect horse, or the groin of the gelding. 

 The causes are violent struggling when under operations, over- 

 exertion, kicks, or accidents. The assistance of a veterinary sur- 

 geon is here indispensable.* 



DISEASES OF THE LIVER. 



Horses dying when not more than five years old of other com- 

 plaints, usually show a healthy liver, but when they reach eight 

 or nine, the liver is frequently increased in size — is less elastic — 

 has assumed a more granulated or broken down appearance — the 

 blood does not so readily pass through its vessels — and at length, 

 blood begins to ooze from it into its membraneous covering, or 

 into the cavity of the belly. The horse feeds well, is in apparent 

 health, in good condition, and capable of constant work ; but, at 

 length, the peritoneal covering of the liver suddenly gives way, 

 and the contents of the abdomen are deluged with blood. 



* Note by Mr. Spooner. — In congenital hernia (that appearing at birth), 

 in the testicle bag, the remedy consists in castration by the covered opera- 

 tion, that is, without cutting into the hernial sac, but placing wooden claws 

 ^^n the cord and the peritoneal membrane, and at the same time, forcing the 

 gut gently upwards towards the abdomen. In the course of a few days the 

 :esticles will slough off, or may be removed. The writer purchased a colt 

 9 few years since for a trifle, being abandoned by its owner as worthless, on 

 which the operation was successfully performed, and the colt sold afterwards 

 at a good price. 



When the hernia is strangulated, violent pain and great danger is the re- 

 sult ; the opening through which the gut has escaped is generally very small, 

 being in fact, the inguinal ring. In such cases, if the hernia cannot be re- 

 duced by the hand, or the taxis, as it is called, it is necessary to open the 

 hernial sac, and by means of a bistoury, enlarge the opening sufficiently to 

 put back the gut — an operation of great difiiculty and danger, and requiring 

 much skill. 



Abdominal hernia may occur in different situations, and are usually caused 

 by external violence, such as the horn of a cow, or jumping over and across 

 a post. The muscular and other covering of the abdomen is broken through, 

 whilst the skin, from its greater looseness, remains entire ; and, indeed, is 

 the only object between the bowels and the air. If the case is recent, the 

 hernia may be reduced, and the hernial sac opened, and the sides of the 

 opening brought together by sutures of metallic wire. Where, however, 

 the injury is of long standing or natural, as, for instance, in mares, when the 

 abdominal ring is unusually large, we cannot succeed by this means ; but 

 yet the case is not always hopeless. The gut being forced back, an incision 

 is made in the skin, and one or more wooden skewers passed through it, so 

 that a good portion of the skin can be embraced by some strong waxed 

 twine, the skewers preventing it slipping off the skin thus embraced, which 

 sloughs off, and a cicatrix forming the surrounding skin becomes tighter and 

 thicker than before — sufficiently so to keep the gut, for the most part, within 

 the abdomen. 



