HERNIA, «37 us 
Although {uch is the ahaa mean 
hia, it rch te o be underftood, that the occafional fignifica- 
tions of t rd is much more extenfive, comprehending 
indeed hae — which it no fimilitude or analogy 
whatfoever to o Thus, a collection of water in 
the tunica <a teftis is fometimes named ernia aquofa 5 
‘an inflammation of the tefticle is diftinguifhed by the appel- 
lation of Aernia humoralis 3 3 and a certain tumour of the brain 
uneus Ce- 
ing of the term her- 
peer to treat of, it will be feen in the courfe of the fol- 
owing pages, that the definition with which we have fet out, 
eannot be applied to fome forms of difeafe, always ranking 
as hernie of the abdomen, either becaufe the difplaced parts 
or are not contained in any 
bag or pouch, formed by the ~ * 
rupture, ten 
e, which it 
it cannot ethan any falfe 
idea pf sre the nature of = complaint. 
‘The manner in which, of late years, our know 
herniz has been amplified by the diligent inveitigations o 
feveral able and diftinguithed furgeons, is fuch as cannot 
failto raife the admiration 
with the fubjet. At the fame time, it is fuch as ought to 
awaken the {pirit of —— and induitry throughout. all 
the departments of furgery, by making us diftruft the pre- 
fent attainment of any shines like perfeétion in a fingle branch 
of it. When-we confider the vait number of heads and pens 
eiigh have been engaged, at different periods, upon the fub- 
re us; when we reflect that there is marge! a great 
fur: of any age, who has not devote ae ae time 
and attention to the ft udy of hernia, i a of his 
writings to the explanatien of it ; and finally, a sis we =u 
to mind the great frequency of the diets which muft hay 
afforded at all times every opportunity of examination ; we 
have ith reafon for furprize at finding errors of confiderable 
pater eps prevailing, even up to the Some ee 2 the 
prefent ce Our aftonifhment, however, muf imme- 
recy na sa we find that the caufe of tele errors 
has proceeded from a grofs negle& of morbid anatomy, and 
head quent ignorance of the 
lating to the formation of herniz in general. - With this 
‘kind of ripseeha. it was in vain for fee. to attempt 
clear and accurai e defcriptions of a difeafe, the internal 
erste tances of “which they did not take the trouble of t 
5 en by diffe&tion. . 
: oe re correét opinions concerning man 
e dil a 
tance af tang the fubje& of hernia espe 
apon heen of every man. who is 
ASA ae to himfelf, a 
wun ies of oh difeafe, 
wledge of 
one, at all converfant. 
the different ftates in which the contents of hernize are im 
e of anatomy re d in ope» 
rating 3 ate the danger oF miftaking hernial tumours for 
whe of a totally different kind; are circumt{tances which 
ought to infufe fear into the heart, and agitation in ae, the 
confciences of all, who prefume to call themfelves qualified 
furgeons, without having firft duly confidered “9 thing 
relating to fo important a branch of their profeflion 
The iat hee which have been made, of the presenta 
which men and womenafflited with ruptures, bear to 
reft of the human race, comprehend a very high ane 
Some furgeons, as Arnaud, PEG and Turnbull, have 
eftimated that one-eighth or one-fixteenth of mankind have 
ruptures. Knowing, paves that thefe ftatements are valt 
cuaecranents we only m ntion them to fhew that the difeafe 
of a moft common ki nd. From an inftructive note, 
inletad 3 in Mr. Lawrence’s treatife on ruptures, edition i ii, 
page 2, it appears that the preceding eftimate is psocheney 
over-rated. Among other things, it is obferved that «M, 
Louis afcertained the number of patients vith hernie in- 
the different hofpitals of Paris. We fhould expect to find a 
reater proportion here, than in mankind at large, fince 
thefe very diforders compel many to feek relief at fuch in- 
ftitutions ; yet it will be feen that the proportion is not fo 
7027 perfons in the Salpétriere, 220 were 
<-at = Bicétre, 212 out of 3800; at the In- 
t of 2500 or 2600; and of the children at. 
the Hdpital ae fa Pitié, 2¢ in 1037.”’ Mémoires de Acad, 
de Chir, tom. v. fupplement, p. 885. 
Hernia is a difeafe from which no age, fex, nor condition, 
is exempt ; the youngeft children, the moft aged perfons, 
rich man, and the peor one, the induftrious and the indolent, 
being all liable to be affli€ted with it. 
Many reafons, fays Mr. Aftley Cooper, 1 may be affigned 
for = very frequent occurrence af protrufions Jean the ab- 
dom 
Tit “ft, the vifcera of this cavity are numerous, many © of 
are habitually expofed to changes of fize 
tion, from fudden or gradual diftention. of 
condly, the parietes of the abdomen are ¢ of 
rufeles, the aGion of which is to contraé&t the dimenhioos 
this cavity, to comprefs the bowels, and a to force them 
‘from ai natural fituation. 
real condition of the parts re- _ 
, for the paflage of veffels anda nerves thefe ne 
cles ne hee tendons have various aperture which, thoug 
poste He only wide enough for this ated Ft often become 
much relaxed as to allow the vifcera shemiclyes to BY 
set 
ne 
Laftly, the mufcles are fometimes themfelves 
formed, and the vifcera efcape t hrough | ood 
Con 
See Anatomy, &c. of Inguinal and 
= Se 
& 
~ 
= L * ts Sy een lations, 
The 
to their fituation, and the nature of their contents. | 
the parts are oa aa at the abdoritial ring, d 
the fame direGtion as the fpermatic cord. Women are © 
” Tobias to the fame {p cies of ie oe 
that. ae be do not have it ine foe often as the othe es fex, 2 
oon 
the groin 
he prat cirided attend wo bog : wt 
When ep called a baboncele or 
