82 HEALTH AND DISEASE 



to stale, great heat, tenderness of the parts, looking back at the flanks, 

 and a frequent shifting of the hind limbs. 



Treatment. In the case of the new-born foal no other assistance is 

 required than that of bringing the organ into line. It is best accomplished 

 by introducing an oiled finger into the sheath; and to facilitate the future 

 outward passage of the penis, some vaseline or other suitable unguent 

 should be smeared over it. 



It has been shown that the causes are various. The treatment will 

 also vary. Inflammatory action and consequent swelling will best be 

 combated with fomentations, anodyne ointments, and perhaps an aperient 

 or diuretic. Warts and other excrescences may require to be removed and 

 the oedematous sheath scarified (see Operations). In some of the latter 

 cases a course of tonic medicine is advisable. Stings should be removed, 

 if discoverable, and an alkaline lotion applied at the point of their intro- 

 duction. In the great majority of cases the remedy will be found in a 

 careful cleansing of the interior of the sheath. 



In large animals it is a work of some magnitude, owing to the extent 

 and capacity of the sheath and the great accumulation possible within it. 

 The most effectual manner of performing this disagreeable operation is to 

 first introduce a quantity of vaseline, and allow an hour or so for it to 

 become incorporated with the offensive secretion to be removed. Next 

 introduce the hand and bring away, in small quantities, all that can be 

 obtained, wash out with warm water in which some soap-powder has been 

 dissolved, dry with a cloth, and finally inunct with pure lard. Nor should 

 the operator's attention be confined to the inside of the sheath. Many 

 simple cases are much relieved by outward application and such means as 

 will cause the tense skin to stretch and the congested vessels beneath to 

 resume again their normal functions. 



PARAPHYMOSIS 



This condition is the opposite of that described above, and consists in 

 the horse's inability to withdraw the extended penis within the sheath. 



The causes are excessive debility, from poverty, old age, or illness, 

 which occasion effusion into and swelling of the glans penis. Chronic 

 enlargement or morbid growths either upon or within the organ itself 

 or the sheath, the descent of calculi into the urethral canal, paralysis of 

 the penis, injuries, and inflammation resulting from the sexual relation 

 are also causes of this form of the disease. 



The symptoms are unmistakable, the penis protrudes from its sheath and 

 is much enlarged, the envelopes of the organ are sometimes swollen to such 



