166 The Farmer's Veterinary Adviser. 



tlie neck. Or in slight cases blister the sac severely and 

 repeatedly ; or apply wooden clamps over the skin close 

 up to the belly, having first perfectly returned the protru- 

 sion, and let them be worn until they drop off. 



Inguinal Hernia occurs in the male quadruped of any 

 age, as the sac containing the testicle remains continuous 

 with the abdomen throughout life. It is rare but by no 

 means unknown in the castrated animal. It may exist 

 without any other symptom than an unnatural sweUing of 

 the scrotum, the contents movable on themselves, the 

 thickening extending up to the abdomen, and the whole 

 disappearing suddenly and in a mass when pressed. Or 

 these signs may be associated with the violent and contia- 

 uous colicky pains of obstruction. In all cases of cohe in 

 entire males the possibility of hernia should be borne in 

 mind and an examination made. 



Treatment is very varied, in difficult cases requiring an- 

 atomical knowledge and attention to many minutiae which 

 cannot be given here. Yet in many cases the hernia may 

 be returned by simple pressure with the hand, with or 

 without the other hand inserted into the last gut and car- 

 ried down to the internal inguinal ring. If the patient is 

 thrown on his back with his hind parts well raised the re- 

 turn will be greatly facilitated. In pigs and dogs castra- 

 tion should be resorted to, the gut being first returned and 

 held back by pressing upon the canal in front of the testi- 

 cle, and finally the wound in the skin sewed up. Tor par- 

 ticulars of treatment of the various forms of inguinal her- 

 nia see the author's larger work. 



Femoral Hernia in bitches rarely demands or receives 

 treatment. 



Ventral Hernia is easily distinguished from other swell- 

 ings of the abdominal walls by the movable gurgling con- 

 tents entirely returnable into the abdomen by pressure. 

 Though often masked by surrounding inflammation these 

 characters can usually be recognized. Treatment is most 

 successful just after the injury is sustained, as after tb« 



