162 THE EAR AND ITS DISEASES. 



effusion of fluid between the integument and the cartilage occupying the 

 whole of the inside of the flap of the ear. The only remedy is to open the 

 enlarged part from end to end, carefully to take out the gossamer lining 

 of the cyst, and then to insert some bits of lint on each side of the incision, 

 in order to prevent its closing too soon. In a few days, the parietes of 

 the cyst will begin to adhere, and a perfect cure will be accomplished. 



If the tumour is simply punctured, the incision will speedily close, and 

 the cyst will fill again in the space of four-and-twenty hours. A seton 

 may be used, but it is more painful to the dog, and slower in its operation. 



The ear should be frequently fomented with a docoction of white 

 poppies, and to this should follow the Goulard lotion ; and, afterthat, if 

 necessary, a solution of alum should be applied. To the soreness or scabby 

 eruption, which extends higher up the ear, olive oil or spermaceti oint- 

 ment may be applied. In some cases, portions of the thickened skin, pro- 

 jecting and excoriated, and pressing on each other, unite, and the opening 

 into the ear is then mechanically filled. I know not of any remedy for 

 this. It is useless to perforate the adventitious substance, for the orifice 

 will soon close ; and, more than once, when I have made a crucial incision, 

 and cut out the unnatural mass that closed the passage, I have found it 

 impossible to keep down the fungous granulations or to prevent total 

 deafness. 



The following is a singular case of this disease : 1st July, 1820, a dog 

 was sent with a tumour, evidently containing a fluid, in the flap of the ear, 

 A seton had been introduced, but had been sadly neglected. The hair had 

 become matted round the seton, and the discharge had thus been stopped. 

 Inflammation and considerable pain had evidently followed, and the dog 

 had nearly torn the seton out. I removed it, washed the ear well, and 

 applied the tincture of myrrh and aloes. The wound soon healed. On 

 the 14th the ear began again to fill. On the 17th the tumour was ripe 

 for the seton, which was again introduced, and worn until the 9th of 

 August, when the sides of the abscess appeared again to have adhered, and 

 it was withdrawn. Canker had continued in the ear during the whole 

 time ; and, in defiance of a cold lotion daily applied, the ear was perceived 

 again to be disposed to fill. The seton was once more inserted, and the 

 cyst apparently closed. The seton was continued a fortnight after the sinus 

 was obliterated, and then removed. Six weeks afterwards the swelling 

 had disappeared, and the canker was quite removed. This anecdote is an 

 encouragement to persevere under the most disheartening circumstances. 



All dogs that are foolishly suffered to become gross and fat are subject 

 to canker. It seems to be a natural outlet for excess of nutriment or 

 gross humour ; and, when a dog has once laboured under the disease, he is 

 very subject to a return of it. The fatal power of habit is in few cases 

 more evident than in this disease. When a dog has symptoms of mange, 

 the redness or eruption of the skin, generally, will not unfrequently dis- 

 appear, and bad canker speedily follow. The habit, however, may be 

 subdued, or at least may be kept at bay, by physic and the use of Goulard 

 lotion or alum. 



Sportsmen are often annoyed by another species of canker. Pointers 

 and hounds are particularly subject to it. 



This species of canker commences with a scurfy eruption and thicken- 

 ing of the edges of the ear, apparently attended by considerable itching or 

 pain. The dog is continually flapping his ear, and beating it violently 



