452 SURGICAL DISEASES. 



is all important. "When, therefore, a cancer is to be removed, a 

 veterinary surgeon should at once be called in. 



ENCYSTED TUMOURS. 



Encysted tumours are sacs or bags of various sizes, wliicli occur 

 just beneath the skin, and contain a thick, glairy, and trans- 

 parent fluid resembling white of e^^. They are readily known 

 by their soft yielding feel, and by their evident want of con- 

 nexion with the surrounding parts. Nothing but the knife is 

 of the slightest use, and, by cutting through them, the sac may 

 readily be torn out^ each half at a time, taking care not to leave 

 a particle behind, as it is sure to grow again into another sac of 

 the same size as before. 



ABSCESSES. 



Al)scesses, the result of inflammation, are very common in the 

 dog, and show themselves in the early stage as hard painful 

 swellings more or less deep, but gradually coming to the surface, 

 when the skin reddens, and they burst of themselves in the 

 course of time. Very often, however, the matter forms so slowly, 

 and has such a tendency to burrow among the muscles, that, if it 

 is not let out -by the knife in the early stage, it produces great 

 exhaustion from the quantity formed. Matter may be detected as 



