The Bandage and Dressing
Are prepar'd with a large four-double Bolster kept close with a Napkin folded into three or four Folds, which is in like manner supported by the Scapulary.
The Operation of the Paracentesis of the Scrotum
Is undertaken when those Parts are full of Water, after this manner: Assoon as the Patient is plac'd in a convenient Posture, either
standing or sitting, the Operator lays hold on the Scrotum with one Hand, presseth it a little to render the Tumour hard, and makes a Puncture, as in the Paracentesis of the Abdomen. In an Hydrocele that happens to young Infants, the Opening may be made with a Lancet, to take away all the Water at once: But in Men, especially when there is a great quantity thereof, it is more expedient to do it with the sharp-pointed Pipe; but the Testicles are to be drawn back, for fear of wounding 'em with the Point of the Instrument.
If the Hydrocele be apparently Encysted, the Membrane containing the Water is to be consum'd with Causticks, which is done by laying a Cautery in the place where the Incision shou'd be made, and afterward opening the Escar with a Lancet.
When the Puncture is made, it ought to be done in the upper-part of the Scrotum, because it is less painful than the lower, and less subject to Inflammation.