nd preventing
the contents of the sac from returning. A second application should not be
made until the inflammation excited by the first has subsided. In what is
termed spontaneous hernia it is useless to apply any kind of treatment.

UMBILICAL HERNIA.--The umbilicus, or navel, is the aperture through which
the blood vessels pass from the mother to the fetus, and naturally the
sides of this aperture ought to adhere or unite after birth. In very young
animals, and sometimes in newborn calves, this aperture in the abdominal
muscles remains open and a part of the bowel or a portion of the mesentery
may slip through the opening, constituting what is called umbilical hernia.
The wall of the sac is formed by the skin, which is covered on the inner
surface by a layer of cellular tissue, and within this there is sometimes,
but not always, a layer of peritoneum. The contents of the hernia may be
formed by a part of the bowel, by a portion of the peritoneum, or may
contain portions of both peritoneum and bowel. When the sac contains only
the peritoneum it has a doughy feel, but when it is formed by a portion of
the bowel it is more elastic on pressure.

_Causes._--In the new-born animal the opening of the navel is generally
large, and may sometimes give way to the pressure of the bowel on account
of the weak and relaxed condition of the abdominal muscles. This defective
and abnormal condition of the umbilicus is frequently hereditary. It may be
occasioned by roughly pulling away the umbilical cord; through kicks or
blows on the belly; through any severe straining by which the sides of the
navel are stretched apart. We may mention in this connection that it is
best in new-born calves to tie the umbilical cord tightly about 2 inches
from the navel, and then to leave it alone, when in most cases it will drop
off in a few days, leaving the navel closed.

_Treatment._--It is well to bear in mind that many, and especially the
smaller, umbilical hernias heal spontaneously; that is, nature effects a
cure. As the animal gets older the abdominal muscles get stronger and
possess more power of resistance to pressure, the bowels become larger and
do not pass so readily through a small opening, so that from a combination
of causes there is a gradual growing together or adhesion of the sides of
the navel. In cases of umbilical hernia in which there are no indications
that a spontaneous cure will take place, the calf should be laid on its
back