54 CLINICAL VETERINARY MEDICINE AND SURGERY, 



of its penetrating by infriction or inoculation, but always with the 

 same negative result. 



I have repeatedly attempted to transmit blennorrhoea to males and 

 females, but whether the pus was placed at the entrance of the sheath 

 and on the penis, or in the vulvo-vaginal cavit)', whether it was simply 

 spread on the mucous membrane by rubbing, or by pressure on the 

 preputial sheath, or lips of the vulva, the attempts always failed. Nor 

 was I more successful when applying it to the eye or conjunctival 

 mucous membrane. Nevertheless, and despite the fact that the condi- 

 tion is rare in the bitch, I did not conclude from these experimental 

 results that it is never transmitted during the sexual act. Under 

 favourable circumstances, at present unrecognised, the exudate cover- 

 ing the penis may probably become virulent and infective. 



Bacteriological examination of this exudate reveals the presence of 

 numbers of common microbes, especially isolated micrococci, strepto- 

 cocci, and sometimes staphylococci and various bacteria. Soiling of 

 the preputial opening when the dog is lying down, and of the penis 

 during the attempts at coitus made by young dogs, readily explains 

 the diversity of germs found in the exudate. 



The duration of blennorrhoea varies greatly according to the 

 patient's manner of life and the care bestowed on it. In young pet 

 dogs, attacked during distemper, it is generally treated and disappears 

 in a few weeks. In neglected, dirt}-, and badly fed animals it may 

 persist for months, even for years, the discharge increasing or dimin- 

 ishing from time to time. Though usually easy to cure when recent, 

 it in time becomes obstinate, and can onl}- be dealt with by steady, 

 long-continued treatment. 



Apart from this benign form of blennorrhcea, the dog occasionall)- 

 suffers from acute inflammation of the mucous membrane of the pre- 

 puce and penis, which sometimes extends to the first portion of the 

 urethra, and is accompanied by an abundant greyish-green discharge, 

 marked itching, and pain during micturition. When lying down the 

 subject continually licks the sheath, which is more or less hot and 

 swollen. Left to itself this disease may become complicated with in- 

 flammation of the inguinal glands and diffuse inflammation of the pre- 

 puce. In common with Siedamgrotzky and Moller, I have seen such 

 cases. I believe this variety of blennorrhcea and its complications are 

 due to one of the micro-organisms found in the former condition, the 

 virulence of which, however, has increased. In pus from an abscess of 

 the sheath I found streptococci in short chains. 



The diagnosis of blennorrhoea in the dog, whether acute or chronic, 

 offers no difficulty. In those extremely rare cases where the terminal 



