i) 02 
ON THE TREATMENT OF EXOMPHALUS. 
ligature. The second, third or fourth, should so many be re- 
quired, must be placed above that which preceded, and close to 
the abdomen. They relax in from two to three days, and are 
then useless, save for the purpose of supporting those which fol- 
low them. The whole drop off, along with the tumour, in from 
ten to twelve days. The point from which the pouch is de- 
tached is neither raised nor excavated. It is a flat granulating 
surface, as large as a halfpenny, and seldom broader than a half- 
crown. No fuither treatment is required, save, perhaps, a little 
astringent lotion to hasten cicatrization, or an ointment to exclude 
flies. 
In this manner I have operated upon four colts, one filly, and 
one quey calf. Three of the colts were from three to four months 
old ; one was eight months, and the filly eighteen. In none 
was there any symptom of danger. They began to feed generally 
in an hour after the ligature was adjusted. 
The operation was attended with no difficulty ; but I have 
found the ligature most easy of application before the young 
animal has left the udder. In the eight-months colt, and in the 
fillv, the hernial tumour had diminished in depth, and increased 
in breadth. The use of bulky food had enlarged the belly ; the 
skin was tense, and less easily gathered together, and the filly had 
to be cast before the ligature could be applied. She was an 
animal of considerable value. Her age made me apprehend 
danger from the ligature, and I tried bandages for several weeks, 
but without the least amendment. 
In general, I have not been anxious to detach the integument- 
al pouch too rapidly, and have rarely applied all the compres- 
sion a ligature can exert. It might, I think, be possible to 
make the skin slough before the internal opening became im- 
pervious. The ligature interrupts the circulation and marks the 
skin, but does not cut it through. It may be doubted whether 
sloughing by ligature can be effected so quickly as to leave an 
excavation. Yet I would rather err on the safe side. It is 
better to have the operation completed in ten days with safety, 
than in six or eight with the risk of an external opening. 
I am not able to give any satisfactory account of the process 
performed by the vital agencies in this operation. The first effect is 
interruption to the transmission of blood ; but the bloodvessels are 
not obliterated, since the tumour rises in volume after two or three 
days, when the ligature has relaxed. The veins, unable to return 
all they receive, deposit a portion, which becomes organized in 
the cellular and vascular tissues. The pressure of the cord ex- 
cites inflammation above the point of its application ; deposition 
and adhesion succeed ; the sides of the sac are united to each 
