The Nodular Venereal Disease 313 



advice of some writers that a force pump should be used for 

 douching. A pump is exceedingly difficult to keep clean. 

 It almost inevitably becomes dirty. Most pumps are not 

 subject to disinfection or to sterilization by boiling. With a 

 pump there is always danger of including in the douching 

 fluid air bubbles, which may flow into the sheath and pre- 

 puce under great force, giving the animal a shock which 

 causes him to move suddenly with danger of injuring both 

 himself and the operator. The pump is also an extravagant 

 appliance. With the irrigator, the douhcing can be carried 

 out readily by one man, whereas with the force pump two 

 men are necessary. Ordinarily a bull is well accustomed to 

 one man, and that one can manage him better alone than in 

 the presence of others. 



It is frequently asserted that certain bulls will not permit 

 the douching without violent and stubborn resistance. I 

 have not found this to be true. Repeatedly, caretakers have 

 been exceedingly dubious about their ability to douche the 

 bull, but with such an apparatus as I have described, and 

 with ordinary prudence in handling the animal, I have 

 found that the douching can be carried out without violence 

 on the part of the animal. He will stand for the douching 

 as well as for grooming. The success of the douching de- 

 pends upon gentleness and tact on the part of the operator 

 and his having at hand suitable equipment for the work. 

 Failures in douching, so far as I have known, have always 

 been due to lack of proper apparatus or to faulty method, 

 or in some cases to faulty solutions used. The douching 

 fluid should always be warm — not hot — and should be 

 wholly free from irritation. Some writers advise a strong 

 disinfectant. These always prove highly irritant and serve 

 to infect instead of disinfect. That is, an irritant disinfect- 

 ant introduced into the sheath and prepuce destroys the 

 protective epithelium of the part, and the dead cells re- 

 maining supply a new and fertile field for the multiplication 

 of bacteria. It is impossible to disinfect wholly the genital 

 mucosa, and no such vain attempt should be made. Instead, 

 a high degree of mechanical disinfection should be obtained 

 by using a neutral or slightly bactericidal douche. 



