614 HERNIJi:, ETC. 



me with the following account of hernise as they occur in 

 India. 



Inguinal and scrotal hernia are frequently met with in our 

 Indian cavalry, many of the horses being stallions. No age, 

 breeding, or size is exempt or specially predisposed ; but country- 

 bred coarse horses are more often afflicted with chronic hernia, 

 probably because there are more of them entire. Stud-bred 

 English-crossed are always castrated. 



These forms of hernia are frequently met with on the Con- 

 tinent of Europe, and occasionally in our home breeding 

 establishments. 



There are two forms : 1st The acute ; and 2d. The chronic. 



Causes. — Fatigue and heat of climate, by relaxing the vascular 

 and muscular fibres, cause the testicles to descend, so that the 

 scrotum appears remarkably large and dependent ; the weight 

 of the glands thus gradually dilates the internal ring, and the 

 bowel during its vermicular action glides along the cord into the 

 inguinal canal, and on to the scrotum, constituting the affection 

 under consideration. Hydrocele, violent kicking, severe exer- 

 tion, getting cast, are all exciting causes. 



This affection in our patients is incorrectly termed rupture, 

 because there is no laceration of tissue ; all entire horses being 

 liable to it at any time, as the lining membrane of the scrotal 

 sac is simply a continuation of the peritoneal membrane lining 

 the abdomen, and reflected over the viscera ; so that there is an 

 opening from the former to the scrotum, connected by a passage 

 termed the inguinal canal, the upper border of which canal 

 (formed of peritoneal membrane) constitutes the internal abdo- 

 minal ring, which is supported by the fascia of the abdominal 

 muscles, through which it passes by a slit-like aperture. It is 

 through this opening, or mouth of the inguinal canal, that the 

 herniated bowel first passes from the abdomen towards the 

 scrotum ; and if this opening is small, a few inches of the bowel 

 become fixed, the ring acting as a ligature. The vessels of the 

 imprisoned bowel, now in the inguinal canal, become engorged, 

 gaseous distension aggravates the mischief, and we have a case 

 of acute inguinal hernia. The symptoms resemble those of colic 

 or spasm of the bowels, with these additions ; intense, uninter- 

 rupted abdominal pain ; the testicle on the affected side, drawn 

 close to the abdomen, is not let down on walking, and tlie 



