312 
F. MAURI. 
common tendon of the abdominal muscles and the crural arch 
and where these organs take their insertion on the anterior bor¬ 
der of the pubis. With sufficient pressure, and with a slight 
rotary motion, the cone of the fingers soon penetrates through 
the inguinal ring and is soon followed by the whole hand. 
This immediately takes the direction of the inguinal tract, and 
makes room for itself in lacerating the loose cellular tissue that 
closes it, by pushing obliquely upward, outward and slightly 
from forward, backward. 
During this delicate step the hand might be the means of 
serious disturbances did the operator not have at his disposal 
two essential guides: the ascending direction that he must 
follow is indicated by the position of the external angle of the 
ilium. And again, and particularly, the hand, though keeping 
up a slow rotary motion, must always remain resting with 
the pulp of the fingers upon the crural arch, which being well 
stretched, enables the operator to avoid laceration of the pos¬ 
terior border of the small oblique. The hand turned back¬ 
ward, with the fingers slightly flexed and resting on the cru¬ 
ral arch, will gradually lacerate the connective tissue, while 
the posterior border of the small oblique smoothly glides over 
the dorsal face of the fingers. The manipulations must be 
carried out slowly and carefully. Thus guided, the hand 
reaches the bottom of the inguinal, near the sub-lumbar region, 
where the peritoneum is readily felt, more or less resisting, 
according to the age of the subjects. The pressure of one or 
two fingers is sufficient to tear it. 
3 .—Prehension of the Testicle. —Generally, the introduction 
ol two or three fingers in the peritoneal cavity is sufficient to 
take hold of either the epididymis or the testicle itself, and to 
bring them into the inguinal canal. But sometimes the pre¬ 
hension of the testicle is more difficult, neither the organ itself 
nor the epididymis being found near the peritoneal opening. 
In this case it is necessary to immediately introduce the entire 
hand into the abdomen. This must be done slowly and pro¬ 
gressively, and in such a way that the fingers as they proceed 
will recognize by touch the organs they come in contact with. 
Of the seven abdominal cryptorchidies that I have opera- 
