150 BUREAU OF ANIMAL INDUSTRY. 



SWELLING OF THE SHEATH, PENIS, AND ABDOMEN. 



This occurs in certain unhealthy states of the system, in unhealthy 

 seasons, as the result of operating without cleausing the sheath and 

 penis, or of keeping the subject in a filthy, impure building, as the 

 result of infecting the wound by hands or instruments bearing septic 

 bacteria, or as the result of premature closure of the wound, and 

 imprisonment of matter. 



Pure air and cleanliness of groin and wound are to be secured. 

 Antiseptics, like the mercuric chloride lotion (1 part to 2,000) are to be 

 applied to the parts; the wound, if closed, is to be opened anew, any 

 accumulated matter or blood washed out, and the antiseptic liquid 

 freely applied. The most tense or dependent parts of the swelling in 

 sheath or penis, or beneath the belly, should be pricked at intervals 

 of 3 or 4: inches, and to a depth of half an inch, and antiseptics freely 

 used to the surface. Fomentations with warm water may also be used 

 to favor oozing from the incisions and to encourage the formation of 

 white matter in the original wounds, which must not be allowed to 

 close again at once. A free; cream-like discharge implies a healthy 

 action in the sore, and is the precursor of recovery. 



PIIYMOSIS AND PARAPHYMOSIS. 



In cases of swelling, as above, the penis maj- be imprisoned within 

 the sheath (phymosis) or protruded and swollen so that it can not be 

 retracted into it (paraphymosis). In these cases the treatment indi- 

 cated above, and especially the scarifications, will prove a useful pre- 

 liminary resort. The use of astringent lotions is always desirable, 

 and in case of the protruded penis the application of an elastic or 

 simple linen bandage, so as to press out the blood and accumulated 

 fluid, will enable the operator to return it. 



TUMORS ON THE SPERMATIC CORD. 



These arc due to rough handling or dragging upon the cord in cas- 

 tration, to strangulation of undul}^ long cords in the external wound, 

 to adhesion of the end of the cord to the skin, to inflammation of the 

 cord succeeding exposure to cold or wet, or to the presence of infec- 

 tion {Stajphylococcus lotriomyces). These tumors give rise to a stiff, 

 straddling gait, and may be felt as hard masses in the groin connected 

 above with the cord. The}^ may continue to grow slowly for many 

 years until they reach a weight of 15 or 20 pounds, and contract adhe- 

 sions to all surrounding parts. If disconnected from the skin and 

 inguinal canal they may be removed in the same manner as the testicle, 

 while if larger and firmlj^ adherent to the skin and surrounding parts 

 generally, they must l)c carefullj^ dissected from the parts, the arteries 



