166 THE EAR AND ITS DISEASES. 



If the ears of dogs must be cropped, it should not be done too early. 

 Four, five, or six weeks should first pass ; otherwise, they will grow again, 

 and the second cropping will not produce a good appearance. 



The scissors are the proper instruments for accomplishing the removal 

 of the ear ; the tearing of the cartilages out by main force is an act of 

 cruelty that none but a brute in human shape would practise ; and, if he 

 attempts it, it is ten to one that he does not obtain a good crop. If the 

 conch is torn out, there is nothing remaining to retain the skin round the 

 auricular opening ; it may be torn within the auditory canal, and as that 

 is otherwise very extensible in the dog, it is prolonged above the opening, 

 which may then probably be closed by a cicatrix. The animal will in 

 this case always remain deaf, at least in one ear. In the mean time, the 

 mucous membrane that lines the meatus auditorius subsists, the secretion 

 of the wax continues ; it accumulates and acquires an irritating quality ; 

 the irritation which it causes produces an augmentation of the secretion, 

 and soon the whole of the subcutaneous passage becomes filled, and seems 

 to assume the form of a cord ; and it finishes by the dog continuing to 

 worry himself, shaking his head, and becoming subject to fits. 



Mr. Elaine very naturally observes, that, " it is not a little surprising 

 that this cruel custom is so frequently, or almost invariably, practised on 

 pug-dogs, whose ears, if left alone to nature, are particularly handsome and 

 hang very gracefully. It is hardly to be conceived how the pug's head 

 which is not naturally beautiful except in the eye of perverted taste is 

 improved by suffering his ears to remain. 



If the cropping is to be practised, the mother should have been previ- 

 ously removed. It is quite erroneous, that her licking the wounded edges 

 will be serviceable. On the contrary, it only increases their pain, and 

 deprives the young ones of the best balsam that can be applied the blood 

 that flows from their wounds. 



Polypi in the Ears. Dr. Mercer, in The Veterinarian, of July, 

 1844, gives an interesting account of the production of polypi in the 

 meatus of the ear. He considers that there are two kinds of polypi 

 first, the soft, vascular and bleeding polypus, usually produced from 

 the fibro-cartilaginous structure of the outer half of the tube; and, 

 secondly, the hard and cartilaginous polypus or excrescence produced 

 from the lining membrane of its inner half. The first is termed the 

 hsematoid polypus, and the other the chondromatous. The dog suffer- 

 ing under either generally has a dull, heavy, and rather watery eye. He 

 moans or whines at intervals. If his master is present he feels a relief in 

 pressing and rubbing his aching ear against him. At other times he 

 presses and rubs his ear against the ground, in order to obtain a slight 

 relief, flapping his ears and shaking his head ; the mouth being opened 

 and the tongue protruded, and the affected ear pointing to the ground. 

 Then comes a sudden, and often a profuse, discharge of fetid pus. The 

 local discharge of pus and blood becomes daily more and more fetid, and 

 the poor animal becomes an object of disgust. 



In the first variety of polypus, where it is practicable, the soft and vas- 

 cular excrescence should be excised with a pair of scissors or a small knife, 

 or it may be noosed by a ligature of silk or of silver wire, or twisted off 

 with a pair of forceps. Immediately after its removal, the base of the 

 tumour should be carefully destroyed by the nitrate of silver, and this 

 should be repeated as long as there is any appearance of renewed growth. 



