164 CAUSES, SYMPTOMS AND TREATMENT OF 



times it is necessary to operate on a colt without castrating him, and a 

 truss may be used, and it may subdue the hernia. However, there is one 

 method I have resorted to in such cases, which I have not seen recom- 

 mended particularly in our works. I returned the whole mass of bowel 

 up the scrotum, and put a few stitches through the scrotum, and left 

 them for four or five days. A little irritation was set up, and the hernia 

 disappeared. I was careful not to injure the testicle, which I had closed 

 up to the ring. Some recommend applying a clam below the testicle, 

 which sloughs off a piece of the scrotum. 



Umbilical Hernia. — This may occur in any animal, but is more likely 

 to occur in young animals, and is often congenital. . If not present at 

 birth, it is noticed in a few days after birth. It is generally reducible 

 with a little pressure. If in a colt from six to fourteen days old, it is just 

 as well to let it alone for a while, and it will often disappear, for the 

 omentum does not grow as fast accordingly as the other parts of the 

 body, which tends to reduce it. But if the colt is one or two years old, 

 then it will not disappear of itself, and it is necessary to reduce it, and 

 there are various ways, as by a truss, or a bandage is applied, and it is 

 more easily applied than in scrotul hernia. In other cases you must 

 operate by some of the methods ; by cutting through the skin ; expose 

 and scarify the abdominal walls, and bring the parts together. This 

 would be perhaps the most surgical way, but we can operate in a more 

 simple way, and I recommend throwing him. Eeturn the bowel, take up 

 the skin and apply the clam right over it, taking care not to apply them 

 too tightly, and to stop the circulation too quickly ; or, you can use 

 skewers instead of clams; put two or three skewers through the parts, 

 and take good strong twine and secure the parts by passing the twine over 

 them in the form of a figure eight, or by puckering up the skin and apply- 

 ing a ligature round it ; and a skewer is of benefit in this case to prevent 

 the ligature from slipping off. In twenty-four or thirty hours it is neces- 

 sary to apply another ligature, and tighten the parts up some, and you 

 may subdue the hernia. And perhaps in eight or ten days tetanus will 

 set in and death result, and this may occur after any operation, and 

 peritonitis supervene ; but there is not generally much danger of peri- 

 tonitis. 



Ventral Hernia. — It may vary from the size of a marble to the size of 

 your head. It generally results from direct injury, as a kick, etc., and 

 sometimes from abdominal contraction ; but it does not often occur in 

 this way, and it is well, in examining horses, to look along the belly for 

 enlargements. It is fluctuating tumour, and when produced by injury, 

 it may be due to extensive inflammation set up in the part, giving rise to 

 an exudation, and matter may form and you will have to open it up ; and 

 there may be a hernia as well as an abscess, and when opening an abscess 

 in this region, always think of hernia, and be very careful. The same 

 thing applies to cattle, and you may have difficulty, in making up your 

 mind what is hernia or an abscess, or both together. One of our gradu- 

 ates opened an abscess in this region ; it formed again, and he plunged 

 the lancet into it, and there was a hernia present, and it was necessary to 

 destroy the animal. They may attain a great size and not interfere with 

 the animal ; and it may be a point of dispute whether it should or should 

 not be operated upon ; and unless the owner desires it, it is better to let 

 it alone. 



Treatment. — Prepare the animal by moderate feeding for a day or two, 

 then throw the animal and return the hernia ; cut into the sac and bring 

 the edges together by a catgut suture. There is no great danger in a 



