DISEASES OF HORSES 315 



abdomen. When abscess occurs in the cord the matter may escape 

 into the scrotal sac and cavity of the abdomen. 



Treatment. This consists in perfect rest and quietude, the ad- 

 ministration of a purgative (1 to 1% pounds Glauber's salts) , and the 

 local application of an astringent lotion (acetate of lead 2 drams, ex- 

 tract of belladonna 2 drams, and water 1 quart) upon soft rags or 

 cotton wool, kept in contact with the part by a suspensory bandage. 

 This bandage, of great value for support, may be made nearly trian- 

 gular and tied to a girth around the loins and to the upper part of the 

 same surcingle by two bands carried backward and upward between 

 the thighs. When abscess is threatened its formation may be favored 

 by warm fomentations or poultices, and on the occurrence of fluctua- 

 tion the knife may be employed to give free escape to the pus. The 

 resulting cavity may be injected daily with a weak carbolic acid 

 lotion. The same agents may be used on a gland threatened with gan- 

 grene, but its prompt removal by castration is to be preferred, anti- 

 septics being applied freely to the resulting cavity. 



SARCOCELE. 



This is an enlarged and indurated condition of the gland, result- 

 ing from chronic inflammation, though it is often associated with a 

 specific deposit, like glanders. In this condition the natural structure 

 of the gland has given place to embryonal tissue (small round cells, 

 with a few fibrous bundles), and its restoration to health is very im- 

 probable. Apart from active inflammation, it may increase very 

 slowly. The diseased testicle is enlarged, firm, nonelastic, and con> 

 paratively insensible. The skin of the scrotum is tense, and it may 

 be edematous, as are the deeper envelopes and spermatic cords. If 

 liquid is present in the sac, the symptoms are masked somewhat. As 

 it increases it causes awkward straddling, dragging movement of the 

 hind limbs, or lameness on the affected side. The spermatic cord 

 often increases at the same time with the testicle, and the inguinal 

 ring being thereby stretched and enlarged, a portion of intestine may 

 escape into the sac, complicating the disease with hernia. The only 

 rational and effective treatment is castration, and even this may not 

 succeed when the disease is specific (glanders, tuberculosis). 



HYDROCELE, OR DROPSY OF THE SCROTUM. 



This may be merely an accompaniment of dropsy of the abdo- 

 men, the cavity of which is continuous with that of the scrotum in 

 horses. It may be the result, however, of local disease in the testicle, 

 spermatic cord, or walls of the sac. 



Symptoms. The symptoms are enlargement of the scrotum, 

 and fluctuation under the fingers, the testicle being recognized as 

 floating in water. By pressure the liquid is forced, in a slow stream 

 and with a perceptible thrill, into the abdomen. Sometimes the cord 

 or the scrotum is thickened and pits on pressure. 



Treatment may be the same as for ascites, yet when the effusion 

 has resulted from inflammation of the testicle or cord, astringent ap- 

 plications (chalk and vinegar) may be applied to these. Then, if 

 the liquid is not reabsorbed under diuretics and tonics, it may be 

 drawn off through the nozzle of a hypodermic syringe which haa 



