The principles and practice of surgery : founded on the most extensive hospital and private practice, during a period of nearly fifty years; with numerous plates, illustrative both of healthy and diseased structure / by Astley Cooper ; edited by Alexander Lee.
- Cooper, Astley, Sir, 1768-1841.
- Date:
- 1836-1837
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: The principles and practice of surgery : founded on the most extensive hospital and private practice, during a period of nearly fifty years; with numerous plates, illustrative both of healthy and diseased structure / by Astley Cooper ; edited by Alexander Lee. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by Royal College of Physicians, London. The original may be consulted at Royal College of Physicians, London.
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![relaxing beat of the climate, assisted by the constant exertions which the inhabitants are obliged to make in passing their rocky paths, few persons escape the disease, and it is often of an enor- mous size.” Frequency of In Egypt, too, we have the testimony of medical men who at- heruia in Egypt, tended the late expedition, that herniae are extremely common there, and often of an unwieldly bulk. Of this, Sir Robert Wilson mentions the following instance : “ I saw a man who had a belly hanging down from his navel to his ancles, a blue skin contained his bowels, but which seemed so thin, as to be liable every mo- ment to burst. The weight was enormous, and the size appeared much larger than an ox’s paunch. The unfortunate wretch was otherwise in good health, and crawled about gaining his bread by begging.” From obesity. There are also causes which diminish the resistance of the muscles and tendons. Thus, a person naturally fat, who has become suddenly lean, is, in consequence, generally the subject of hernia ; for the fat which had loaded the spermatic chord, and had extended the apertures to and from the abdomen, being suddenly absorbed, room is left for the viscera to supply its place. In some From hereditary respect it appears to depend on hereditary conformation of the conformation. parts Df t]ie groin; for I have frequently been consulted by fathers, themselves wearing trusses, for more than one of their sons afflicted with the same complaint. A gentleman applied to me with his two sons, all labouring under the disease. The father had a right inguinal hernia, the eldest son an umbilical, and the youngest a ventral hernia, between the ensiform cartilage and um- bilicus, from a deficiency in the linea alba. Dr. S., his grand- father, and great grandfather, had an inguinal hernia brought on by the same cause—violent efforts while out shooting. In such cases as these, I have found by attentive examination the ab- dominal ring very imperfectly formed; so that instead of the ring extending an inch in length, it could be traced nearly half way to the ilium. Hence it would seem, that in these persons the tendon which strengthens the superior angle of the ring, either does not](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b28525474_0696.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
