TREATMENT OF GOITRE. 405 



injection of a 15 per cent, solution of iodoform in aether or glycerine. 

 Moller obtained favourable results in a dog from parenchymatous 

 injection of a watery solution of papain (1 to 10). The swelling in 

 forty-eight hours was uniformly soft ; on incision the digested 

 parenchyma of the gland was discharged as a milky fluid, and 

 although it did not completely disappear, the swelling markedly 

 decreased and the dyspnoea became less. In dogs the gland some- 

 times undergoes cystic changes, producing a swelling outwardly 

 resembling an abscess. Should it be laid open, however, death 

 generally results (Zschokke). 



More recently very good results have been obtained, both in 

 animals and men, from the administration of thyroid juice or 

 extract. Even after a few doses of 1^ to 7 grains, dogs have shown 

 marked improvement and diminution in the swelling. The milk 

 of goats which have been deprived of their thyroid glands, is said 

 to be curative. 



Thyroidectomy may be performed in the horse without any 

 bad result ; but only partial excision should be practised in the 

 dog. The chief difficulty in operating is hemorrhage, which must 

 be arrested as dissection proceeds. 



Rydygier, in human patients, recently tried ligature of the arteries 

 of supply, but their simultaneous ligation was only favourable in parenchy- 

 matous goitre. Schmidt used the " ecraseur " for extirpation in the horse. 

 Massot exposed the gland, drew it forward with the fingers, and resorted 

 to torsion before ligaturing. After dissecting back the skin, Moller lays 

 free the gland with the fingers, and ligatures the visible vessels, finally 

 applying a still stronger ligature and removing the gland above it. Care 

 should be taken not to divide the gland too closely, as the ligature may 

 slip off. It is better to leave some gland tissue, so as to give the ligature 

 a better hold. After-treatment must be regulated according to general 

 principles. Lanzilotti removed a goitre swelling as large as a child's head 

 from a horse. It had developed in six months. The right section of the 

 gland was as large as a potato, and was retained. The animal returned 

 to work after a month's rest. Examination of the tumour showed it to 

 be a simple adenoma. Munk's and Breisacher's experiments seem to 

 indicate milk diet as a valuable means of treatment. Where only one 

 side of the gland is diseased, removal of this portion can be undertaken 

 without serious consequences. 



Jewsejenko reported the case of a four-year-old English thoroughbred 

 mare, which lost appetite after a race and showed great thirst, weakness, 

 palpitation of the heart, and frequency of pulse, with swelling of the thyroid 

 and eyelids and reddening of the conjunctiva. Fourteen days later exoph- 

 thalmos occurred, the thyroid gland showed pulsation, and death occurred 

 in four weeks, with symptoms of anaemia and exhaustion. Whether 

 paralysis of the sympathetic was also present here cannot be decided. 

 A horse in Cadiot's practice was found to be much wasted, low in 



