THE 
VETERINARIAN. 
vol. ii. DECEMBER, 1829. No. 24 . 
©ommunfcattons anil 
Ars veterinaria post medicinam secunda est.— Vegetius. 
ON SCROTAL HERNIA. 
By Mr. Molyneux. 
To the Editor of the Veterinarian. 
Sir, —HAVING seen a great many cases of scrotal hernia in 
India, I take the liberty of addressing you a few lines on the sub¬ 
ject, which I trust may be interesting to some of the young vete¬ 
rinarians proceeding to that country. 
We are told that the disease is not so frequent in the horse 
[ (although in him the abdominal ring is always open) as in the 
human subject, and this is accounted for by the horizontal posi¬ 
tion of the animal; but I have seen in him very many instances of 
this kind of hernia that seem totally at- variance with such an 
opinion; and I venture to predict, that in the course of a little 
time I shall be borne out by the coincidence of our professional 
brethren now in the service of the East India Company. In this 
service many valuable horses are lost from the superficial observ¬ 
er’s thinking “ strangury,” or something of the kind, exists; but 
now, as there are veterinary surgeons attached to it, it is to be 
hoped there will be a great deal of light thrown upon this as well 
as many other diseases. The disease is very unfrequent in this 
country:—why? because in it most horses are castrated, by which 
means the abdominal ring becomes sufficiently closed to prevent 
any protrusion of intestine : but in India, where horses are usually 
uncut, it is, I believe, in them a more frequent occurrence than in 
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