INGUINAL HERNIA IN SWINE. 553 



and muscle below the external angle of the ilium, passed the hand 

 into the abdominal cavity, and found a double loop of intestine 

 strangulated in the left inguinal canal. As this could neither be 

 freed, nor could a finger be introduced into the inguinal canal, Loble 

 inserted a straight bistoury (whose point was guarded with a strip 

 of plaster), holding it between the index finger and thumb, and thus 

 enlarged the abdominal ring. A tenotome is recommended for this 

 purpose, and it should be fastened by a cord, so as not to be lost 

 in the abdominal cavity. After freeing the bowel the abdominal 

 wound was sutured, and recovery occurred in six weeks. It should 

 not be forgotten, however, that the hernia can often be reduced via 

 the rectum, without opening the abdomen. 



(4.) PERINEAL HERNIA IN SWINE. 



Both boars and castrated swine may be affected with perineal 

 herniee. The hernia is generally one-sided, very seldom double- 

 sided, and its contents usually consist of a portion of bowel which, 

 in castrated animals, is often adherent to the sac. Omental hernia 

 is rare. In swine perineal hernia is usually congenital and hereditary, 

 or develops during the first few weeks of life, seldom later. 



Symptoms and course. In sucking pigs the swelling may be the 

 size of a man's fist, The testicle lies at the bottom of the scrotum, 

 which, in consequence of the thin and yielding character of its skin, 

 may be greatly enlarged. Raising the fore-quarters increases the 

 swelling, raising the hind-quarters diminishes it ; whilst thrusting 

 the finger upwards into it discovers the existence of dilatation of 

 the abdominal ring. Sometimes the rupture is so small as only to 

 be detected on castration. The little animal fails to develop, whilst 

 the rupture gradually increases in size ; but spontaneous recovery 

 is sometimes seen. Though strangulation is not frequent, it 

 occasionally happens both in boars and castrated animals, and is 

 associated with the same symptoms as in other animals — colic, 

 increased hardness and pain in the swelling, and difficulty in 

 replacing the hernia. 



Prognosis is more favourable in pigs than in horses, the peritoneum 

 being less sensitive and not resenting operative interference to the 

 same extent, though castration of a ruptured boar requires particular 

 care, and sometimes ends fatally. 



Treatment. In castrating ruptured sucking pigs, the animals 

 are placed for some days on short rations, and starved for ten to 

 twelve hours beforehand. The covered operation is selected and 



