AMPUTATION OF THE PENIS IN THE HORSE. 57 



basis, form fibrous tumours of considerable size. The transformation 

 of papillomata into cancroids and invading new growths is admitted 

 by some authors, and seems estabhshed by several good recorded cases. 

 They can, however, usually be successfully excised, provided the}- are 

 not very numerous, or when in difficult positions their excision is not 

 likely to be followed by interference with micturition. 



Paralysis of the penis may result from violent local contusions, or 

 from injury to the perinaeum. Cases occur where the history quite fails 

 to explain the onset of the condition, and paralysis has several times 

 been seen to occur suddenly in worn-out horses. It is oftenest of 

 secondary character, resulting from certain infectious diseases, chief 

 among which are contagious pneumonia and influenza. Sometimes it 

 seems to have followed simple attacks of colic. 



There is no paraphimosis, for the base of the penis is in no way 

 strangulated by the sheath. Furthermore the persistence of local 

 sensation, and the active movements still noted in certain cases, show 

 that paralysis seldom becomes complete. 



Anatomical and pathological researches undertaken for the purpose 

 of clearing up the nature of this condition have, until now, only 

 revealed accessory lesions in the corpus cavernosum, subtegumental^ 

 connective tissue, and upper venous trunks. The corpus cavernosum 

 shows considerable thickening of the fibrous septa bounding the alveoli 

 through which the blood passes from the arterial ramifications into the 

 vein. This change is especially marked in the lower portion of the 

 penis ; it results from blood stasis. Free serous infiltration into the 

 subcutaneous connective tissue is soon followed by induration, the parts 

 becoming firm, lardaceous, and difficult to cut. The chief veins traversing 

 this tissue are obliterated by old, hard, stratified clots. These lesions 

 still leave the pathology of the condition obscure. It may result from 

 disturbance due to extravasations of blood following violence, or to 

 haemorrhage, or to phlebitis occurring during some infectious disease, 

 but very generally — like the majority of other local paralyses resulting 

 from infection (and notably from contagious pleuro-pneumonia) — it is 

 of toxic character, due to a lesion of the medulla, or of the nerves of 

 the penis. 



Whatever its nature and cause, paralysis of the penis, once produced, 

 is marked by objective symptoms, which usually become aggra- 

 vated in time. The penis appears more or less pendulous, increases 



* The integument covering the penis is intermediate in texture between skin and mucous 

 membrane. To avoid the inconvenience of repeating " integument," etc. , at frequent intervals, 

 I have taken the liberty of describing it as skin. — Jno. A. W. D. 



