372 SURGICAL OPERATIONS. 



held in the right hand, until the elasticity is destroyed, and it 

 will no longer recoil, but remain curled up in a knot. The 

 torsion forceps may then be removed with safety, and the re- 

 maining portion of the cord should be divided, and returned 

 within the scrotum. Should the haemorrhage from the artery of 

 the cord prove at all troublesome, it may be arrested in a similar 

 manner. The number of twists will depend upon the size of the 

 artery, from four to six revolutions being sufficient for small, 

 and eight or ten for larger vessels. The effect which torsion 

 produces on the vessel independent of destroying its elasticity, 

 is a laceration of its internal tunic, the edges of which become 

 speedily agglutinated by means of plastic lymph : a clot of 

 blood plugs up the end, so that the obliteration is rendered 

 doubly secure.'' This description is followed by numerous cases, 

 in which this method of operating has been practised by the 

 three practitioners before mentioned with success. 



The use of torsion as a mode of stopping the hjemorrhage 

 from arteries was introduced by Mr. Costello in 1824, and for 

 many operations, particulai'ly in cutting out tumours, it has 

 been employed with great advantage. The present writer has 

 employed it for this purpose with the best effects; but for 

 castration he does not consider that it has any advantage over 

 the ligature, than which it must certainly be less secure. — Ed] 



Oil Hernia or liujytures. 



[This disease consists in the escape of the bowels or other 

 viscera from their proper cavity. There are two principal 

 vai'ieties of hernia ; one in Avhich the intestine escapes through 

 the abdominal rings, which, in the horse, continue open ; and 

 the other, when it takes place at any other part of the 

 abdomen. The latter is called ventral hernia, and generally 

 arises from blows, kicks, or falls, by which the parietes of the 

 abdomen are ruptured, and thus form an 0{)ening through 

 which the bowels pass, and are only prevented escaping by the 

 skin. The former variety has different names, according to the 

 part in which the gut is found ; tluis, if it reaches the scrotum, 

 it is called scrotal*, or, in the gelding, inguinal hernia. There 

 are numerous other subdivisions, which it is unnecessary here 

 to notice, but which may be found treated at length in Girai'd's 



* Scrotal hernia, in this country, is most frequently met with in young colts, 

 find is often congenital, occasioning great weakness and stiffness of the hind 

 quarters. The best plan to adopt in such case is to perform the covered 

 operation of castration, reducing the hernia at the same time. A case of this 

 kind came before the writer's attention a few years since, and the owner being 

 unwilling for the operation to be performed, the foal with its dam was pur- 

 chased by the writer, the operation successfully performed, and the colt after- 

 wards sold advantageously. — Ed. 



