=Issues= are a contrivance for keeping up irritation of the surface. A piece of diachylon plaster the size of a half-crown, with a hole in the centre as large as a pea, is laid over the skin where the issue is to be formed. A bit of potassa fusa is laid in the hole and kept _in sitû_ by a second plaster, for an hour or till the skin is destroyed under the hole. The plasters are then removed, the wound washed, and a fresh piece of the same size put on, having at its centre a slit ¼ inch long, under which a pea is slipped into the sore and covered over by another smaller piece of plaster. The discharge that soon sets up must be washed away twice daily, and the plaster and pea renewed from time to time as they become soiled. =Trusses= for ruptures. These are various, in shape, strength of spring, &c. Whatever variety of truss is employed, care should be taken that the pressure is made in the right direction, and that it is sufficient, but not too great for the strain it has to support. In reducible hernia the pressure for _inguinal rupture_ should be exerted on the inguinal canal and directly backwards (see fig. 109). For _umbilical rupture_, the pressure should be also backwards, and confined as much as possible to the aperture in the wall of the belly. In _femoral_ rupture the pressure should be directed upwards as well as backwards into the femoral ring (see fig. 110). The pad in all should be large enough to well cover the passage through which the rupture passes. The ease and comfort of a truss much depend on the completeness with which it fulfils these conditions. [Illustration: Fig. 109.—Inguinal truss.] [Illustration: Fig. 110.—Femoral truss.] The adequacy of a truss should always be tested by directing the patient to separate his legs, lean forward over the back of a chair, and cough or strain deeply. If the truss support the rupture during this exertion it fits satisfactorily. For _irreducible_ hernia large air-, or spring-padded trusses are made, which prevent further descent of the viscera, but they are exceedingly difficult to fit and often unsatisfactory in use. In _inguinal hernia_ the truss consists of a _pad_, a _spring_, and a _neck_, with _guide straps_. The _pad_ is made of various materials, fine carded wool is among the best when well stuffed into a proper shaped leather pad, and in most cases a fixed pad is better than a moveable one.