704 DISEASES AXD ABXOBMALITIES OF THE YOUXG ANIMAL. 



In those cases in which the urachus cannot be secured by this proce- 

 dure, astringents or caustics — -such as the sulphate of copper — may be 

 successfully employed. Beneficial results have been obtained by the 

 application of a strong vesicant around the umbilical ring, the tumefac- 

 tion caused by it closing the opening. The actual cautery has also been 

 most successfully employed, particularly in a fine point. 



CHAPTEE IV. 

 Umbilical Hernia. 



ExoMPHALis, omphalocele, or umbilical or ncivel hernia, is not at all rare 

 in young animals, and is perhaps most frequently observed in Foals and 

 Puppies ; it does not appear to be so common in Calves, and in Pigs 

 and Lambs it is seldom seen. It would appear to be more prevalent in 

 some countries or regions than in others. Marlot states that in every 

 score of Foals or Mules bred in France, one is so affected. The hernia 

 or rupture may appear at birth or some time after, and may continue 

 during the life of the animal if no measures are adopted to cure it ; 

 it may be congenital or acquired. The congenital form is produced 

 during fa^tal life, when a portion of the digestive and biliary apparatus 

 is contained in the umbilical cord. The embryonic connective tissue, or 

 Whartonian gelatine, in which are imbedded the two umbilical arteries 

 and vein (two in the Calf and Pig), is very abundant at the elliptical 

 opening named the umbilical ring — through which also pass the urachus, 

 the omphaio-mesenteric vessels, and a portion of intestine. After birth 

 the umbilical cord shrivels, and the Whartonian gelatine becomes con- 

 densed and organised, forming a fibrous membrane that closes the 

 umbilical opening and, gradually contracting, brings the two edges 

 together ; these unite, and soon nothing is left to mark the situation of 

 the opening, except a short lozenge-shaped fibrous cicatrix. The intes- 

 tine had previously been withdrawn into the abdomen, the urachus 

 becomes contracted after birth into a thin ligament, while the blood- 

 vessels are obliterated. 



It sometimes happens, however, that the process of cicatrisation is 

 either prevented, retarded, or interrupted ; consequently, the umbilical 

 ring continues more or less patent, and certain viscera either remain in 

 it, or are pushed into it by internal pressure, and lodged in the pouch 

 formed externally by the skin. In this congenital hernia, the vein or 

 veins and the arteries are separated by the misplaced viscera, the former 

 being usually in front, the latter behind. 



The lesion may be observed at the moment the animal is born ; and 

 after the cord is ruptured it may happen that the abdomen remains open 

 and the viscera are exposed ; the creature then generally succumbs 

 quickly. 



Acquired or accidental umbilical hernia usually appears soon after the 

 cord has withered, or within a few months after birth. 



A true Sund false exomphalus have been described : the first being that 

 just mentioned, in which hernia takes place through the umbilical ring; 

 while the second is due to an accidental opening in the neighbour- 

 ing aponeurotic or muscular tunics of the abdomen, and is in reality 

 ventral hernia — occurring, as it generally does, after birth and in adult 

 animals. Various kinds of umbilical hernise have also been alluded to, 



