330 rSTLAMMATIONS. 



hound encounters in hunting for his game. Still it should lead to 

 a careful inspection, and, if it continues for any length of time, it 

 may be generally concluded that there is an internal cause for it. 

 The treatment should in every case be chiefly directed to the inter- 

 nal passage ; the cap which is sometimes ordered to be applied to 

 the head, with a view of keeping the ears quiet, has a tendency to 

 increase the internal inflammation, and should not therefore be em-^ 

 ployed. The first thing to be done, is to lower the system by pur- 

 gatives (11), (12), (15). or (16), with low diet, mcludmg no animal 

 food. As soon as this has produced a decided effect, the nitrate of 

 silver wash (22), the ointment (58a), melted, or the sulphate of zinc 

 (20), should be dropped into the ear-passage, changmg one for the 

 other every second or third day. At the same time the sores on 

 the edges of the ears may be daily touched with bluestone, which 

 will dry them up. In slight cases, this treatment will suffice for a 

 cure, if carried on for three weeks or a month. In long-standing 

 attacks, however, a seton must be put into the back of the neck ; 

 this seldom fails to afford relief. If the inflammation in the exter- 

 nal ear has been so great as to produce abscesses, they must be 

 slit open with the knife to the very lowest point, as wherever mat- 

 ter is confined in a pouch there can be no tendency to heal. The 

 dog should be muzzled and the head held firmly on a table, when- 

 ever any remedial fluid is applied internally to the ear. Deafness 

 may result from canker, or from rheumatic or other inflammation 

 of the internal ear. As no treatment is likely to be beneficial, 

 there is no necessity for enlarging on the subject ; the only remedy 

 at all to be relied on, in recent cases, is the seton in the back of the 

 neck. 



INFLAMMATION OF THE MOUTH AND TEETH. 



Dogs fed on strongly stimulating food, are very apt to lose their 

 teeth by decay, and also to suffer from a spongy state of the gums, 

 attended with a collection of tartar about the roots of the teeth. 

 Decayed teeth are better extracted, but the tartar, when it pro* 



