DISEASES OF CATTLE 97 



This being done, a layer of melted pitch and turpentine is quickly 

 spread on the skin covering the seat of the hernia, so as to extend 

 somewhat beyond that space. This adhesive layer is then covered 

 with a layer of fine tow, then a new layer of pitch and turpentine 

 is spread on the tow, and the piece of pasteboard is applied on the 

 layer of pitch, its outer surface being covered with the same prep- 

 aration. Lastly, the bandage, adhering to the piece of pasteboard, 

 to the skin, and to the different turns which it makes around the 

 body, is carefully applied so as to form an immovable, rigid, and 

 solid bandage, which will retain the hernia long enough for the 

 wound in the abdominal walls to heal permanently. 



If the hernia is old and small it may be treated by injecting a 

 strong solution of common salt about the edges of the tear. This 

 causes swelling and inflammation, which, respectively, forces the 

 protruded organ back and closes the opening. There is some risk 

 attached to this method of treatment. 



In small, old ventral hernias the method of compressing and 

 sloughing off the skin has been used successfully. If the hernia is 

 large a radical operation will be necessary, and this is also true 

 when the symptoms indicate that a hernia is strangulated. This 

 operation is performed by cutting down on the hernia, restoring the 

 organ to the abdominal cavity, and then closing the wound with two 

 sets of stitches; the inner stitches, in the muscular wall, should be 

 made with catgut and the outer stitches, in the skin, may be made 

 with silk or silver wire. The strictest surgical cleanliness must be 

 observed. Bleeding vessels should be tied. Then a compress com- 

 posed of ten or twelve folds of cloth must be placed smoothly over 

 the seat of injury and a bandage applied around the body, the two 

 ends being fastened at the back. In the smaller kinds of hernia, 

 nitric acid may sometimes be applied with success. This treatment 

 should not be applied until the swelling and inflammation attend- 

 ing the appearance of the hernia have subsided ; then, the contents 

 of the hernia having been returned, the surface of skin correspond- 

 ing to it is sponged over with a solution composed of 1 part of nitric 

 acid to 2 parts of water. This treatment acts by exciting consid- 

 erable inflammation, which has the effect of causing swelling, and 

 thus frequently closing the hernial opening and preventing the con- 

 tents of the sac from returning. A second application should not 

 be made until the inflammation excited by the first has subsided. 

 In what is termed spontaneous hernia it is useless to apply any kind 

 of treatment. 



Umbilical Hernia. The umbilicus, or navel, is the aperture 

 through which the blood vessels pass from the mother to the fetus 

 and naturally the sides of this aperture ought to adhere or unite 

 after birth. In very young animals, and sometimes in new-born 

 calves, this aperture in the abdominal muscles remains open and a 

 part of the bowel or a portion of the mesentery may slip through 

 the opening, constituting what is called umbilical hernia. The wall 

 of the sac is formed by the skin which is covered on the inner sur- 

 face by a layer of cellular tissue, and within this there is sometimes, 



