The interest at present felt by the surgical world in the radical cure of hernia is so great, and so many methods of treatment are being brought forward, that it has occurred to me that the grouping together of a number of examples of the extreme degree to which hernia may attain, and to relate my experience in their management, might not be without interest to the members of the Association.
The very large herniæ appear to have a raison d'être in each case; that is, the patient usually suffers from some form of disability which prevents him or her from exercising that control over a hernial tumor which an able-bodied and intelligent person is usually capable of doing. In a large number of cases obesity is a predisposing cause, especially in umbilical herniæ in women. A stout, middle-aged, swag-bellied woman who has borne children is particularly liable to this