REPORTS OF CASES. 
599 
draw the needles so that the knot will be midway between the- 
needles when the thread is stretched out. Then proceed to sew by 
passing the needle through the lower slot in the clamp, anterior 
or posterior as the case may be. Then pass both needles through 
the hernia sack, using the harness tug stitch, then put one thread 
around the needle, so as to make a surgeon’s knot. Continue in 
this manner until you have reached the other end of the hernia 
sack or slot, taking about one inch to each stitch. Remove the 
clamp, paint the parts with iodine and leave the hernia sack to 
slough off, which will take eight or twelve days. 
In inguinal and scrotal hernia, in a stallion, secure the ani¬ 
mal, make an incision in the scrotum, cutting through the skin 
and dartos in the middle line of the testicle; draw the skin down¬ 
wards and cause the testicle and its coverings to bulge. Now cut 
through the connective tissue and the cremasteric aponeurosis; 
this leaves the tunica vaginalis exposed, which must be left intact. 
Take the testicle, which is covered by the peritioneal sack, and by 
pressure break down the connective tissue that binds it to the 
scrotum until it is isolated as high as the inguinal ring. Be sure 
that the hernia is completely reduced, then place the clamp over 
the hernia sack as near the ring as possible, tighten thumb screws 
and proceed to sew, using the same kind of a stitch as used in 
umbilical hernia, except making the stitches shorter and use a 
single thread. When through, leave the thread long enough to 
reach through the opening in the skin. This being done, then re¬ 
move the testicle and hernia sack by cutting through the slot in 
the clamp above the one you sew through (which should be be¬ 
low if the horse was on his feet); now, release the clamp and 
pack the inguinal canal, take a stitch or two in the skin and leave 
this packing in twenty-four hours. Be sure when the pack is 
taken out that the end of the thread is long enough to reach 
through the external opening so that it can be taken out when 
the stitches sloug'h off. 
I kept a record of a few cases that were operated on by the 
foregoing method which I will briefly mention. Case No. i was 
a draft stallion four years old, with scrotal hernia. 
History.—Left side of scrotum was considerably larger than 
right side at birth. At two years old the right side was as large 
as the left. The owner then disposed of him. The buyer used 
him in the stud, when the left side gradually enlarged until it 
hung as low down as the hock, with a diameter of about eight or 
ten inches. This case was what prompted me to use some device 
other than the common clamp, as it was a question as to whether 
