144 ECTHYMA. 



for the non -recognition of this eruption. I have, however, 

 seen it on the mammae and inside of the thighs in ewes. In 

 examining flocks with a view to determine if they were 

 affected with small-pox, I have met with eruptions which 

 correspond to the appearance of ecthyma in man. I have 

 also seen the disease affecting the vulva in the cow, and pus- 

 tules existed not only in the external skin, but also in the 

 mucous membrane. Whilst on this subject, it is not unim- 

 portant to notice the severe attacks of ecthyma which veteri- 

 narians so commonly suffer from, after attending cows in 

 difficult labour. In the first volume of the Edinburgh 

 Veterinary Review, I published a paper in it, with a 

 coloured lithograph, representing an eruption on my own 

 arm. About twelve hours after being called to a cow, on the 

 23rd of November 1857, I felt a strong itching sensation on 

 my right arm ; my left was not altogether exempt, and in 

 looking carefully I found that the skin of both was the seat 

 of a diffuse rush. Next morning the redness had augmented 

 on both arms, but chiefly on the right; and the pruriency was 

 replaced by pain. On the Tuesday evening an abundance of 

 small circumscribed pimples had formed, which suppurated 

 on the Wednesday. By the afternoon of the 25th, they were 

 well-formed pustules. These were large, distinct, and sur- 

 rounded by a red areola. Both arms were painful, the 

 auxiliary glands slightly swollen, and I suffered somewhat in 

 general health. On the right side the pustules were very 

 numerous, exceeding one hundred, but less so on the left. I 

 was prevented lecturing only for one day, and in accordance 

 with my friend Mr Lister's advice, the arm was dressed 

 with a lotion containing diacetate of lead and opium. This 

 relieved the pain, but some of the pustules attained the size 

 of a large pea, others became encrusted with a brown scaly 

 scab, and others, in bursting, left behind a cicatrising sore. 



