928 
DEPARTMENT OF SURGERY. 
same method is applied to scrotal hernia of the horse and ox. 
Congenital Umbilical Hernia .—The word u exomphalos,” 
used by veterinarians to designate hernia at the umbilicus, is a 
misnomer. It was originally intended to designate a protruding 
navel, but usage has given it a wider meaning. 
Exomphalos is essentially a disease of young animals, ap¬ 
pearing during the first six months after birth and like scro¬ 
tal hernia reduces spontaneously as the patient grows old. 
They are probably never traumatic, but result from a persist¬ 
ing navel orifice, in all instances. They are not inclined to 
grow to any great size, nor do they frequently become strangu¬ 
lated, yet it is our opinion, in spite of their tendency to reduce 
spontaneously, that umbilical hernia should never be left tore- 
cover without extraneous impulse. We have observed in a num¬ 
ber of instances that umbilical hernias of young animals that are 
not promptly reduced are prone to result in adhesions of the bow¬ 
els to the wall of the sac. These adhesions may cause recurrent 
colics and even perforation of the viscus. The mysterious per- 
forations of the colon or ilium observed in post-mortems are 
generally traceable to umbilical adhesions which rent the bowel 
when the animal rolls about. Our attention was first attracted 
to this condition two years ago while holding an autopsy on a 
six-year old horse that died from shock one hour following 
a minor operation in the recumbent position. 
The history of this animal brought out the interesting facts 
that he had had an exotnphalos as a colt and since growing to 
maturity had frequently suffered from mysterious colics. He 
entered the operating room in the best of health, withstood the 
pain of the operation without struggling, but upon regaining 
his feet showed the typical symptoms of surgical shock, i. e ., 
rigors, profuse perspiration, especially about the head and neck, 
labored respiration, coldness of the surface, paleness of the visi¬ 
ble mucosae and sinking pulse. He died one hour after the op¬ 
eration. The autopsy revealed a large perforation of the colon, 
the semi-liquid contents of which were disseminated through¬ 
out the abdominal cavity. A close inspection revealed the true 
character and cause of the perforation : an old adhesion of the 
colon to the umbilicus. It is evident that the perforation oc¬ 
curred as the animal was rolled over to untie the securing ropes. 
Similar perforations of the ilium were observed in two other 
autopsies on animals that died mysteriously from slight attacks 
of colic. Hollingsworth, in a paper read before the Illinois Vet¬ 
erinary Medical Association in 1898, referred to two cases of 
