508 URINARY APPARATUS. 



ever appear before the twelfth or fifteenth day, but when the disease 

 is not treated it may continue as long as -five or six months. On 

 the other hand, resolution is the ordinary termination under suitable 

 treatment. 



Diagnosis. The diagnosis is easy when the exact facts can be 

 ascertained. The difficulty in micturition is the chief indication. At 

 a later stage, local swelling and acute sensitiveness are characteristic. 



Prognosis. The prognosis is grave, having regard to possible com- 

 plications and the chronic character which the inflammation tends to 

 assume. 



Treatment. When the sheath is filled with sebaceous material or 

 foreign substances it may be necessary to cleanse it daily with mild 

 antiseptic injections. Some practitioners recommend laying open the 

 external orifice, an operation which may be performed in the stand- 

 ing position. This, however, is not without danger, and infection 

 may easily occur. 



When the subcutaneous connective tissue surrounding the sheath 

 and the glans penis is infiltrated and inflamed, the inflammatory 

 swelling must be examined every day, so as to detect the abscesses as 

 early as possible, and open them without delay. Under some circum- 

 stances deep firing in points produces very favourable results. 



When an abscess has caused partial necrosis of the sheath, it is 

 well to pass a drain and wash out the parts frequently with anti- 

 septic solutions. For this purpose a counter-opening is made through 

 the skin opposite the fluctuating point. The mucous membrane of 

 the sheath is then cautiously punctured, and a seton or strip of 

 gauze is passed by means of a seton needle, so as to allow of con- 

 stant drainage. 



PERSISTENCE OF THE URACHUS. 



This condition is an infirmity or congenital anomaly, rather than 

 a morbid condition. Persistence of the urachus after birth and after 

 separation of the cord is due to the fact that the canal which com- 

 municates with the bladder fails to close up. The urine, instead 

 of escaping through the urethra, passes along the urachus, and the 

 •animal urinates through its umbilicus. 



Causation. The causes are simple. Certain practitioners have sug- 

 gested that sex has some influence, this being an anomaly occurring 

 more frequently in males than in females. From investigations \Yliicli 

 have been carried out, it would appear that, in some cases, persistence 

 of the urachus is due to an imperforate condition of the urethra ; in 

 other cases, to its obstruction by accumulations of mucus of a caseous 

 appearance, which enter the urethra and completely block the passage. 



