HERNIA 229 



nine cases in females which had never been mated by the 

 dog ; in one puppy, a Pekinese onl}- three \\eeks old, there 

 was a double inguinal hernia, each side being quite as large 

 as a walnut and easily reducible. It is most frequently met 

 ^\•ith on the left side. As a rule, in these cases, the contents 

 of the sac consist of one or both horns of the uterus ; 

 frequently in addition one finds intestine and omentum. 



In one case met with in April, 1896,1 a small Manchester terrier bitch, 

 with a double inguinal hernia, had in the right sac a portion of the small 

 intestine, the pancreas, omentum, bladder, right horn of the uterus, the 

 crecum, and even a portion of the rectum. 



Sometimes a single horn of the uterus is found to be 

 herniated in each inguinal region, and occasionally one or 

 two fcetuses are present. 



In another instance met with by the author, a fox-terrier bitch was 

 operated upon for an inguinal hernia containing a pregnant horn. The 

 foetus was removed, and the horn afterwards excised, the animal suffering 

 so little disturbance that she gave birth to a puppy in the ordinary way 

 seventeen days latcr.^ 



It is diagnosed b}' palpation with the finger-tips, the 

 patient being turned on her back and held loosely b)' the 

 hind-legs whilst the diagnosis is made. Care must be taken 

 not to mistake cystic adenomata or other tumours in the 

 inguinal region for a hernia (see Figs. 146 and 147). 



Treatment. — Chloroform is by far the best anaesthetic to 

 emplo}', as it is so essential that the patient shall be perfectly 

 still. 



An attempt should always be made to reduce the hernia by 

 gentle pressure under a general anjesthetic when the parts 

 are thoroughly relaxed. Whether this can be effected or not, 

 the skin is prepared antisepticalh' (see p. 2), and an incision 

 is made through the skin directly over the hernial sac, care 

 being taken not to penetrate this, and, if possible, to avoid 



1 Journal of Comparative Pathology and Therapeutics, vol. x., p. 171. 



2 Ibid., vol. viii., p. 153. 



