PHYMOSIS. 473 



allayed, astringent lotions, cold water, etc., will be found 

 useful. Tonics should also be given, and a nutritious and 

 liberal diet allowed. In some cases it may be months 

 before a cure can be effected, a notable case being that of 

 ' Hard Fortune,' a very good horse that suffered from para- 

 phymosis for eighteen months, but finally made a good 

 recovery, and got many foals, serving from one hundred to 

 one hundred and twenty mares each year for many years 

 afterward. If the penis becomes gangrenous it must be 

 removed, the ecraseur being the best instrument for the 

 purpose. 



PHYMOSIS. 



This is the opposite condition to paraphymosis, and con- 

 sists of inability to protrude the penis from the sheath, 

 where it is retained in consequence of the orifice becoming 

 abnormally small or contracted. This condition is oftenest 

 met w^ith amongst geldings, and may be due to the animal 

 getting into the habit of urinating without properly pro- 

 truding the penis. The orifice through which it should pass 

 gradually becomes smaller in size until it is too small to 

 allow the penis to be protruded, or the condition may be 

 caused by swelling supervening upon castration, or an injury 

 of some kind. And some horses, having very small sheaths, 

 are more or less predisposed to phymosis. Ulceration may 

 occur in connection with it. The presence of warts may 

 also give rise to the condition. 



Treatment. — If phymosis occurs as a result of castration, 

 one or two punctures should be made in the sheath, to 

 allow the serum contained therein to escape, after which, 

 the parts should be fomented. If the condition occurs in 

 consequence of the presence of warts, the animal should be 

 cast and secured, the penis withdrawn from the sheath, the 

 warts removed, and astringent lotions afterwards ai^plied. 



