300 A TREATISE ON HORSE-BREEDING. 



assisted by a deep incision with the lancet down to the hard 

 tooth substance. 



UMBILICAL HERNIA IN YOUNG FOALS.* 



This condition is usually . very easy to recognize. A 

 pouched or pyriform swelling appears in the median line of 

 the abdomen, immediately below the navel, which on manipu- 

 lation is felt to contain movable contents which glide readily 

 on each other and. can be easily returned into the abdominal 

 cavity by pressure. Then in the center of the navel can be 

 felt an opening of variable size, which may admit one, two, or 

 four fingers. On relaxing the pressure the sack fills up again 

 more or less promptly and fully. When manipulating their 

 contents, and during their return, there will usually be felt, 

 and even heard, some gurgling from the admixture of liquids 

 and gases in the contained intestine. 



It is needless to mention here more than one mode of 

 treatment that should serve every purpose in the very young, 

 in which the tissues of the navel are still embryonic cells, 

 and the opening, therefore, easily closed. Procure a piece of 

 sole leather from four to six inches square to apply upon the 

 navel after the mass of the intestines has been passed back 

 into the belly. To each corner of the leather pad attach an 

 elastic band and bring the same upward around the body, 

 tying them over the spine. Pass a band around the lower 

 part of the neck to act as a collar. From the lower part of 

 this collar carry an elastic band bstween the four legs and 

 attach it to the anterior border of the leather pad. From 

 the same collar, on each side of the shoulder, carry an elastic 

 band back on the side of the chest and tie it successively to 

 the two elastic bands which encircle the body. The essential 

 point is that all of the bands should be elastic, so that they 

 yield and accommodate themselves to the movements of the 

 abdomen in breathing and of the body in all its varied mo- 

 tion. If a similar bandage is applied with inelastic bands 

 drawn tight enough to keep the pad in contact with the um- 

 bilicus in all the breathing movements it is liable to cause 



*The Breeder's Gazette, Vol. 1, p. 231. 



