DEPARTMENT OF SURGERY. 
927 
of placing the animal in the dorsal recumbent position, reduc¬ 
ing the hernia by gravity and manipulation, and then pinching 
the sac (skin and all, including the testicle in the entire horse) 
with a strong clamp, which is allowed to remain intact until it 
sloughs off. Whenever the hernia is not reducible the sac is 
exposed and a long, curved, probe-pointed bistoury is guided to 
the orifice and a forward incision made to enlarge the constric¬ 
ted opening. If the hernia still persists the bowel is w^ell oiled 
to facilitate reduction, or even punctured with a small trocar 
and canula to reduce the volume. Then the whole scrotum is 
pinched up as in the reducible one. 
Another method —the uncovered operation —consists of ex¬ 
posing the testicle without cutting the tunica vaginalis, ligating 
the cord with a strong cord and then removing the testicle with 
a scalpel. An improvement on this method consists of ligating 
the cord by passing a needle armed with a double suture through 
its centre and then tying each half separately. In either case 
the scrotal incision is left open. In pigs the covered operation 
is preferable on account of their dirty habits. The castration 
of a ruptured pig is rendered safe by simply removing the tes¬ 
ticle in the usual manner, suturing the scrotal incision and then 
protecting the wound with au. adhesive substance. If such an 
animal should be submitted for operative treatment subsequently 
(that is a pig that had been castrated), the uncovered operation 
must be substituted, because the hernia may at this time be ir¬ 
reducible from adhesions of the intestines to the sac. In¬ 
cisions into the scrotum of castrated pig must be made cautiously 
for fear of wounding the intestinal loop. A still better course 
is to operate on such pigs only at the urgent request of a client 
or not at all. Vanlaw, a gelder of forty years’ experience, oper¬ 
ates upon ruptured boars as follows: The testicle is carefully ex¬ 
posed with the tunica vaginalis intact. It is pulled outward 
with the one hand while the other is engaged in breaking down 
the outer adhesions of the tunic so as to expose as much of this 
membrane as possible. A needle threaded with strong braided 
silk is then passed through a small portion of the tunic near its 
insertion so that it can not slip away subsequently when 
the testicle is removed, and to prevent the ligature from slip¬ 
ping off after the operation is complete. The testicle is now 
exposed and removed by traction, and the cord tied around 
the tunic tight enough to produce gradual strangulation.. 
In this way the spermatic cord is not held by the ligature 
but passes into the abdomen with the intestinal loop. The-. 
