DISEASES OF THE EAR DEAFXESS. 105 



to the most skilful treatment. The "writer of this work had once a case of 

 this kind under his care moi*e than two months, and he was at length com- 

 pelled to cut off the ear, the other ear following it, for the sake of uni- 

 formity of appearance. The lunar caustic, or the muriate of antimony, or 

 the heated iron, must be early employed, or the labour of the practitioner 

 will be in vain. 



It has been the misfortune of the same person to witness two cases in 

 which the auditory passage was closed and the faculty of hearing de- 

 .^troyed, by blows on the ear violently inflicted. No punishment can be 

 too severe for these brutes in human shape. Whenever there is consider- 

 able swelling about the root of the ear, and the fluctuation of a fluid within 

 can be detected, it should be immediately opened with a lancet, and the 

 purulent fluid liberated. 



The abscess usually begins to form about the middle of the conch, or 

 rather nearer the base than the point. The incision should, be of con- 

 siderable length, or the opening will close again in four-and-twenty hours. 

 The purulent matter having been evacuated, the incision should not be per- 

 mitted to close until the edges of the ulcer have adhered to each other, 

 and the abscess is obliterated. 



The size and the carriage of the ear do not always please. The ears may 

 be larger and more dependent than fashion requires them to be, and this is 

 remedied by an operation. On either side of the projection of the occipital 

 bone, and in a straight Hne forward and backward, a fold of the skin is 

 pinched up and cut away. The divided edges on either side are then 

 brought together, and confined by two or three stitches — tliey presently 

 unite, and the owTier has a better-looking horse, and soon forgets or cares 

 not about the punishment which he lias inflicted on him. 



The ears of other horses may be supposed to be too close to each other. 

 This fault is corrected by another piece of cruelty. Similar shps of skin 

 are cut away on the outside of the base of the ear, and in the same direc- 

 tion. The edges of the wound are then brought together, confined by 

 sutures, and the ears are drawn fui-ther apart from each other, and have 

 different directions given to them. A very slight examination of eithei' of 

 the horses will readily detect the imposition. 



DEAFNESS. 



Of the occasional existence of this in the horse, there is no doubt. The 

 beautiful play of the ears has ceased, and the horse hears not the voice of 

 his master, or the sound of the whip. Much of the apparent stupidity of 

 a few horses is attributable to their imperfect hearing. It occasionally 

 appears to follow the decline of various diseases, and especially of those 

 that affect the head and the respiratory passages. It has been the conse- 

 quence of bi'utal treatment closing the conduit of the ear, or ruptm-ing the 

 tympanum ; and it is certainly, as in other domesticated animals, the ac- 

 companiment of old age. 



In the present state of veterinary knowledge it is an incurable complaint; 

 the only thing that can be done is not to punish the poor slave for his 

 apparent stupidity, produced perhaps by over-exertion in our service, or, at 

 least, the natural attendant of the close of a life devoted to us. 



o2 



