332 HERXIA, OK RUPTURE. 



mischief. Perhaps there is no cause to which their undue influence can 

 more generally be traced than a debilitated condition of the animal, 

 whether as a result of age, the bad qualit)^ of the food upon Avhich he has 

 been kept, or disease. Bearing this in mind, our chief effort in treatment 

 should consist in restoring the general vigour of the system. The animal 

 should be well attended to, and kept on the most nutintious foods, such as 

 oats, or beans, and good hay ; a bran mash should also be allowed twice 

 a Aveek. Our medicinal agents should consist of the early administration 

 of a pint and a half of Unseed oil, wliich may be repeated every ten days 

 for three times. A drachm also of powdered sulphate of iron should be 

 given every night, for a fortnight, in the animal's food. By these means 

 we shall frequently succeed in sufficiently restoring the general health of 

 the animal to produce their expulsion, without running the risk of doing 

 that injury which by the employment of many of those agents above 

 mentioned we are liable to produce. 



HERNIA, OR RUPTURE, 



A portion of the intestine protrudes out of the cavity of the belly, either 

 through some natural or artificial opening. In some cases it may be 

 returned, but from the impossibility of applying a truss or bandage it soon 

 escapes again. At other times the opening is so narrow that the gut, gra- 

 dually distended by gas or fceces, or thickened by inflammation, cannot be 

 returned, and strangulated hernia is then said to exist. The seat of hernia 

 is either in the scrotum of the perfect horse, or the canal leading to it — 

 this is called rnguinal, or scrotal ; or at the navel in the centre of the ab- 

 domen — this is umbilical hernia ; then there are hernia arising from 

 wounds or bruises, and these are most frequently found in the flank, and 

 are known as ventral hernia ; and occasionally there is rupture of and 

 hernia through the diaphragm, called diaphragmatic. The causes are 

 violent struggling when under operations, over-exertion, kicks, or ac- 

 cidents. The assistance of a veterinaiy surgeon is here indispensable. 



The folloA\dng case of operation for hernia will be acceptable to the 

 owner of horses as well as to the veterinary surgeon. It occurred in the 

 practice of Professor Simonds, of the Royal Veterinary College. We 

 extract this account of it from ' The Veterinarian.' 



' The patient was an aged black cart-mare, that had been lent by the 

 owner to a neighbour for a day or two. I cannot speak positively as to the 

 cause of the injury wliich she received, but I believe that it resulted from 

 her falling in the shafts of a cart laden with manm-e. She was brought 

 to my infirmary on the next day, October 18, 1837. 



' The most extensive rupture I had ever seen presented itself on the 

 left side. The sac formed by the skin, which was not broken, nor even 

 the hair rubbed off, extended as far forwards as the cartilages of the false 

 ribs, and backwards to the udder. A perpendicular line draAVTi from the 

 superior to the inferior part of the tumour measured more than twelve 

 inches. It appeared, from its immense size and weight, as if by far the 

 larger part of the colon had protruded. 



' To my sui'piise, there was comparatively little constitutional dis- 

 turbance. The pulse was 45, and full, with no other indication of fever, 

 and no expression of pain on pressing the tumour. 



' She was bled until the pulse was considerably lowered. A cathartic 

 was given, and the sac ordered to be kept constantly wet with cold 

 water, and to be supported with a wide bandage. She was placed on ft 

 restricted and mash diet. 



' On the next day, being honoured Avith a visit by Messrs. Morton, 

 Spooncr, and Youatt, I had the pleasure and advantage of submitting the 



