310 SURGICAL APPLIED ANATOMY. [Chap. xvi. 



being beyond. Hernia into this process is called a 

 hernia into the funicular process. 



In the first of these forms the testicle is quite 

 enveloped in the hernia. In the second and third 

 forms, as well as in the acquired form, it is to be felt 

 quite distinct from the rupture, being actually behind 

 and below it. A congenital hernia may form in cases 

 where the testicle has not descended at all. In such 

 instances the vaginal process may occupy the would-be 

 canal, and along this process a hernia may descend. It 

 is well known that the testicle may make its first ap- 

 pearance in the scrotum, months and even years after 

 birth. In such cases the vaginal process may be 

 normally developed at birth (i.e. may occupy the 

 scrotum), or it may be abortive. 



In the foetus the inguinal canal is relatively 

 much shorter than it is in the adult. As the pelvis 

 develops, however, the relations of the canal approach 

 more to the normal. In the congenital hernia the 

 relations of the canal are not disturbed as they are 

 in the acquired form. Thus, it happens that such 

 ruptures have long and narrow necks, and the difficulty 

 in steadying this neck constitutes one of the special 

 obstacles in the effectual reduction of the hernia. 



There is another possible congenital defect that may 

 predispose to hernia, viz. an abnormally long mesentery. 

 If, in the dead subject, the inguinal canal be opened up, 

 and an attempt made to draw a piece of gut down from 

 the abdomen into the scrotum, it will be found that it 

 cannot be done, owing to the shortness of the mesentery. 

 In any case of scrotal hernia, therefore, the mesentery 

 must become lengthened, and it is a question whether 

 or not an abnormally long mesentery may exist as a 

 congenital defect, and so predispose the patient to rup- 

 ture. More information is required upon the subject 



The inguinal canal in the female is much 

 smaller and narrower, although a trifle longer, than it 



