Hydatid of the Brain, 373 



ing m that particular spot. In fact, the bone has become 

 thin, and been absorbed by the suckers of the small tape- 

 worms above described ; and sometimes the skin is accident- 

 ally broken, the hydatid emerges and ruptures its cyst, and 

 the sheep recovers. 



Treatment. — The natural cure just described, which, how- 

 ever, is very rare, suggests the proper course of treatment. 



The head must be repeatedly felt, for the soft spot in the 

 skull, and as soon as it is fixed upon, a trocar and canula are 

 introduced, the trocar withdrawn, a syringe applied through 

 the canula, and the contents of the cyst extracted. 



This treatment always alleviates for the time, but it is 

 liable to be followed by inflammation of the brain and 

 death ; or by the growth of another hydatid, which requires 

 the repetition of the operation. Hence we would suggest 

 another means of easy application, which has proved, in some 

 hands, very successful. This is, not to open the cyst to the 

 air, which is very liable to produce destructive inflammation, 

 but to puncture its walls with the needle of a strong hypo- 

 dermic syringe and inject into it with some of the following 

 solution : — 



No. 418. Iodine, 1 grain. 



Iodide of potash, 5 grains. 



Water, 1 oz. 



Mix and use a half teaspoonfal at a time. 



Important preventive measures are to keep dogs away 

 from the sheep folds and walks ; or to give them, if required 

 for attendance on the sheep, a good tapeworm vermifuge, 

 now and then ; and to administer the same to the sheej> 

 themselves. 



