OPERATION FOR HERNIA IN STALLIONS. 613 



tlie operation is unsafe ; for the inguinal canal, "whicli has by 

 the operation been made sufficiently large for the incarcerated 

 intestine to return to its proper position, is by the same opera- 

 tion so dilated as to present no impediment to a recurrence of 

 the protrusion. 



The constitutional treatment of the animal, before the opera- 

 tion, must be conducted with a view to allay pain and relax the 

 parts ; for this purpose large doses of opium are to be given, 

 and the operation may be performed under chloroform. 



After the operation, fomentations to the abdomen, repetition 

 of the opium until all symptoms of pain have subsided ; and 

 to prevent displacement of the clam and injury to the scrotum, 

 it is advisable to tie the horse's head to the rack, giving him 

 very gentle walking exercise. 



Purgatives are to be avoided both before and after the 

 operation, because excitation of the peristaltic action of the 

 bowels increases the contents of the- hernial sac, thus render- 

 ing the return of the gut more difficult, and by stimulating the 

 bowels generally, converts the irritation of the part into a 

 general inflammation of the intestines. A continuance of the 

 constipation produced by the opium is not to be feared, indeed 

 it is to be encouraged for a reasonable period, say three or four 

 days, for it gives time for the injured portions of the bowels to 

 become restored to their healthy condition. Should the con- 

 stipation extend beyond this time, and if the practitioner is 

 convinced that the patient suffers from it, a very mild aperient 

 is to be administered — say, one pint of castor or linseed oil ; 

 the large bowels emptied by enemas, and irritation of them 

 prevented by allowing none but the simplest food, bran and 

 linseed mashes being very suitable, and demulcents, such as 

 linseed tea, to drink. 



The hernia which sometimes, immediately follows ordinary 

 castration, produced either by the violent struggles of the 

 animal while under the operation or in the act of rising, the 

 escape of the bowels being facilitated by a natural lax condition 

 of the abdominal rings and canal, is to be treated like the fore- 

 going, the gut being first returned, when this is possible, and 

 the scrotum and its contents included in a plain (not caustic) 

 clam. 



Mr. Stanley of Warwick, late of the 5th Lancers, has furnished 



