84 HEALTH AND DISEASE 



An oedematous or dropsical condition of the sheath is so common a 

 symptom in debilitating diseases as to call for little remark from those 

 in attendance upon horses. It follows upon pulmonary and abdominal 

 affections, specific diseases affecting various organs, as the result of ansemia, 

 of heart failure, organic disease of the liver, accidental injury, surgical 

 operations, bad and insufficient food, and old age. 



An acute form is sometimes traceable to blows and kicks from bad- 

 tempered attendants, and the swelling resulting from such violence leads 

 to a very painful condition and difficulties in connection with urination. 



The more frequent form of cedema of the sheath met with in working 

 horses is that due to languid circulation, or to the presence of an accumu- 

 lation of sebaceous material in the folds of skin within. 



The symptoms are too obvious to call for description, save for the 

 purpose of distinguishing between the simple swelling due to effusion of 

 fluid and the more serious condition of painful and enlarged sheath, which 

 has been described under the heading of phymosis or of paraphymosis. In 

 simple oedema of the sheath the skin is found to pit on pressure of the 

 finger, and the animal does not shrink as if in pain. The inflamed sheath 

 is highly sensitive to manipulation and the skin tense and somewhat hard, 

 and does not, as in the more simple form of the affection, leave a tem- 

 porary dimple when pressed. 



Treatment. Constitutional measures are generally called for, and the 

 remedies accepted as most suitable, where debility or feeble circulation is 

 the cause, are those of the tonic and diuretic class in combination; as, for 

 instance, iron and gentian, with nitrate of potash, or terebinthinous sub- 

 stances, as the so-called Venice turpentine, resin, soap, &c. Small doses 

 of aloes, antimonials, and other drugs which act upon the skin and kidneys 

 are found to remove the fluid, while exercise alone will often have that 

 effect. The abuse of diuretic medicines, in the hands of carters and others, 

 finally renders the animal incapable of doing without them, and it is often 

 only discovered when horses change hands. 



The inside of the sheath should be explored by the hand, and accumu- 

 lations of so-called "cod- wax" removed. 



The parts should be liberally dressed, within and without, with lard or 

 vaseline, as it is often found to assist greatly in relieving inconvenience to 

 the animal in the passing of urine, besides having a decidedly curative 

 effect. 



