ECZEMA IN THE DOG. 287 



name "cancer of the tail;" the remaining hairs at this point are stiff, 

 dry, and fragile, and the end of the tail is often indurated for a distance 

 of an inch or more. The diseased parts are often bitten or otherwise 

 injured, causing bleeding and acute recurrences of inflammation ; in 

 this way the disease may be prolonged for months. In exceptional 

 cases eczema may produce marked thickening of the epidermis cover- 

 ing the caudal extremity, and the growth of little confluent horny 

 patches. Chronic eczematous inflammation of the auditory meatus 

 produces thickening of the lining membrane, sometimes ulceration or 

 hypertrophy of the papillae, and vegetations which obstruct the passage. 



The symptoms of eczema are sufficiently characteristic in most 

 cases to permit of diagnosis solely by clinical examination. If there is 

 any doubt, it becomes necessary to carefully examine all the affected 

 parts, their appearance and character frequently allowing of an opinion 

 being given without recourse to microscopic examination. Eczema 

 can always be differentiated from the eruption seen during distemper, 

 from favus and tinea tonsurans, and from various traumatic lesions of 

 the skin ; but certain forms may be mistaken for sarcoptic, and others 

 for follicular mange. We recently saw a dog which showed a patch of 

 impetiginous eczema on the neck, closely resembling follicular mange, 

 and eczematous areas often simulate recent sarcoptic mange. In these 

 cases the question can only be decided by microscopic examination of 

 material obtained by scraping the diseased surfaces with a scalpel. 



The prognosis of eczema is more serious than that of other skin 

 diseases of the dog, except follicular mange and suppurating derma- 

 titis. It is not particularly difficult to temporarily cure animals, but 

 the disease frequently reappears after a varying interval. Although all 

 forms of eczema are not equally grave, the majority imply the existence 

 of a constitutional condition which dominates the appearance of 

 disease. The prognosis is more favourable in acute than in chronic 

 eczema, and in localised than in the more or less generalised forms. 

 Eruptions on the ear, foot, and tail are difficult to completely cure in 

 certain animals, especially in those beyond middle age. Various con> 

 plications are possible. Thus eczema of the ear may be accompanied 

 by ulceration of the base of the conchal cartilage — auricular canker ; 

 by othaematoma, by abscess formation at the base of the ear in 

 consequence of rubbing, and later by deafness ; eczema of the eyelid 

 is sometimes complicated by entropion, or even by ulcerative keratitis ; 

 and eczema of the scrotum may be follovv^ed by orchitis due to rubbing, 

 by which the animal seeks to allay pruritus. Whatever the seat of 



