does not "go back" on the surgeon trying to reduce it, it must be
operated on at once, the constriction being relieved, the bowel returned
and the opening closed. There should be no treatment by hot-bath or
ice-bag: operation is urgently needed. An anaesthetic should be
administered, and perhaps one gentle attempt to return the contents by
pressure (termed "taxis") may be made, but no prolonged attempts are
justifiable, because the condition of the hernial contents may be such
that they cannot bear the pressure of the fingers. "Think well of the
hernia," says the aphorism, "which has been little handled."
The taxis to be successful should be made in a direction opposite to the
one in which the hernia has come down. The inguinal hernia should be
pressed upwards, outwards and backwards, the femoral hernia downwards,
backwards and upwards. The larger the hernia the greater is the chance
of success by taxis, and the smaller the hernia the greater the risk of
its being injured by manipulation and delay. In every case the handling
must be absolutely gentle. If taxis does not succeed the surgeon must at
once cut down on the tumour, carefully dividing the different coverings
until he reaches the sac. The sac is then opened, the constriction
divided, care being taken not to injure the bowel. The bowel must be
examined before it is returned into the abdomen, and if its lustreless
appearance, its dusky colour, or its smell, suggests that it is
mortified, or is on the point of mortifying, it must not be put back or
perforation would give rise to septic peritonitis which would probably
have a fatal ending. In such a case the damaged piece of bowel must be
resected and the healthy ends of the bowel joined together by fine
suturing. Matted or diseased omentum must be tied off and removed.
Should peritonitis supervene after the operation on account of bacillary
infection, the bowels should be quickly made to act by repeated doses of
Epsom salts in hot water.
A person who is the subject of a reducible hernia should take great care
to obtain an accurately fitting truss, and should remember that whenever
symptoms resembling in any degree those of strangulation occur, delay in
treatment may prove fatal. A surgeon should at once be communicated
with, and he should come prepared to operate. (E. O.*)
HERNICI, an ancient people of Italy, whose territory was in Latium
between the Fucine Lake and the Trerus, bounded by the Volscian on the
S., and by the Aequian and the Marsian on the N. They long maintained
their independence, and in 486 B.C. were still strong enough to conclude
an equal treaty with the Latins (Dion. Hal. viii. 64 and 68). They broke
away from Rome in 362 (Livy vii. 6 ff.) and in 306 (Livy ix. 42), when
their chief town Anagnia (q.v.) was taken and reduced to a praefecture,
but Ferentinum, Aletrium and Verulae were rewarded for their fidelity by
being allowed to remain free _municipia_, a position which at that date
they preferred to the _civitas_. The name of the Hernici, like that of
the Volsci, is missing from the list of Italian peoples whom Polybius
(ii. 24) describes as able to furnish troops in 225 B.C.; by that date,
therefore, their territory cannot have been distinguished from Latium
generally, and it seems probable (Beloch, _Ital. Bund_, p. 123) that
they had then received the full Roman citizenship. The oldest Latin
inscriptions of the district (from Ferentinum, _C.I.L._ x. 5837-5840)
are earlier than the Social War, and present no local characteristic.
For further details of their history see _C.I.L._ x. 572.
There is no evidence to show that the Hernici ever spoke a really
different dialect from the Latins; but one or two glosses indicate that
they had certain peculiarities of vocabulary, such as might be expected
among folk who clung to their local customs. Their name, however, with
its _Co_-termination, classes them along with the _Co_-tribes, like the
Volsci, who would seem to have been earlier inhabitants of the west
coast of Italy, rather than with the tribes whose names were formed with
the _No_-suffix. On this question see VOLSCI and SABINI.
See Conway's _Italic Dialects_ (Camb. Univ. Press, 1897), p. 306 ff.,
where the glosses and the local and personal names of the district
will be found. (R. S. C.)
HERNOSAND, a seaport of Sweden, chief town of the district (_lan_) of
Vesternorrland on the Gulf of Bothnia. Pop. (1900) 7890. It stands on
the island of Herno (which is connected with the mainland by bridges)
near the mouth of the Angerman river, 423 m. N. of Stockholm by rail. It
is the seat of a bishop and possesses a fine cathedral. There are
engine-works, timber-yards and saw-mills. The harbour is good, but
generally ice-bound from December to May. Timber, iron and wood-pulp are
exported. There are a school of navigation and an institute for
pisciculture. Hernosand was founded in 1584, and received its first
town-privileges from John III. in 1587. It was the first town in Europe
to be lighted by electricity (1885). The poet Franzen (q.v.), Bishop of
Hernosand, is buried here.