864 CATTLE. 



intestine should be gently and carefully pushed up through the ring 

 or opening, the testicles being somewhat drawn out, in order to ren- 

 der this more practicable. Continued and gentle pressure applied 

 on the sides of the tumor will more facilitate this than the applica- 

 tion of the greatest force. The intestine having been returned, the 

 finger of an assistant is placed at the opening, and the operator pro- 

 ceeds to cut into the scrotum as quickly as he can, and to denude 

 the testicle, to apply the ordinary clamps, and to divide the cord 

 below the clamps. The clamps will form a temporary and effect- 

 ual support; and by the following day, when it is usual to remove 

 the clamps, a degree of inflammation and engorgement of the parts 

 will have been set up, that will either obliterate the ring, or so far 

 contract it, that it will be impossible for the gut afterwards to de- 

 scend. 



There is one circumstance to which the practitioner should most 

 carefully attend. The protruded intestine always carries with it a 

 portion of peritoneum — it is contained in a bag formed by the in- 

 vesting membrane of the bowels. The whole of this bag may not 

 have been returned when the intestine is pushed up : the operator 

 must ascertain this, and by no means open any part of the peritoneal 

 covering that may remain. 



Castration will usually remove this hernia and all its unpleasant or 

 dangerous consequences, and the beast will be as valuable for grazing 

 and for working as if nothing had occurred. 



In a few cases, however, the hernia will be strangulated. So 

 great a portion of intestine, or of faecal matter in that intestine, will 

 have descended, that the operator cannot return it through the ab- 

 dominal ring. Even the somewhat desperate expedient of intro- 

 ducing the hand into the rectum, and endeavoring to find out the 

 portion of intestine connected with that which has descended, and 

 forcibly retract it, may fail: a different kind of operation must then 

 be attempted, and which a skillful veterinarian alone can perform. 



A species of rupture, very difficult to be treated, has occurred to 

 cows in an advanced period of pregnancy. An excessive accumula- 

 tion of fluid has taken place in the womb, or calf-bed, and the ten- 

 dinous expansion of the muscles which support the lower part of the 

 belly has given way. The farmer says, that " the rim of the cow's 

 belly is ruptured." A portion of the womb escapes through the 

 opening, and descends into the groin, or seems to occupy the udder, 

 and even the head of a calf has been forced down into the groin. 



There is one more species of rupture to which cattle are subject, 

 and the existence of which cannot always be ascertained during life, 

 namely, that of the diaphragm, or midriff. In distension of the 

 rumen there is always great pressure against the midriff. This is 

 increased when severe colicky pains come on, and especially when 

 improper means have been resorted to, such as strong stimulating 



