BRONCHOCELE. 183 



numerous abscesses have been formed in the lower part of it, and there 

 has been considerable discharge, viscid or purulent, the upper part has 

 remained as hard and almost as scirrhous as before. 



Cause of Gotire. In many cases, this enlargement of the thyroid glands 

 is plainly connected with a debilitated state of the constitution generally, 

 and more particularly with a disposition to rickets. I have rarely seen a 

 puppy that has had mange badly, and especially if mange was closely fol- 

 lowed by distemper, that did not soon exhibit goitre. Puppies half- 

 starved, and especially if dirtily kept, are thus affected ; and it is gene- 

 rally found connected with a loose skin, flabby muscles, enlarged belly, 

 and great stupidity. On the other hand, I have seen hundreds of dogs, 

 to all appearance otherwise healthy, in whom the glands of the neck have 

 suddenly and frightfully enlarged. I have never been able to trace this 

 disease to any particular food, whether solid or liquid ; although it is cer- 

 tainly the frequent result of want of nutriment. 



Some friends, of whom I particularly inquired, assured me, that it is not 

 to any great extent prevalent in those parts of Derbyshire where goitre is 

 oftenest seen in the human being. 



It is periodical in the dog. I have seen it under medical treatment, and 

 without medical treatment, perfectly disappear for a while, and soon after- 

 wards, without any assignable cause, return. There is a breed of the 

 Blenheim spaniel, in which this periodical goitre is very remarkable ; the 

 slightest cold is accompanied by enlargement of the thyroid gland, but 

 the swelling altogether disappears in the course of a fortnight. I am quite 

 assured that it is hereditary ; no one that is accustomed to dogs can doubt 

 this for a moment. 



Treatment. I am almost ashamed to confess how many inefficient and 

 cruel methods of treatment I many years ago adopted. I used mercurial 

 friction, external stimulants, and blisters ; I have been absurd enough to 

 pass setons through the tumours, and even to extirpate them with the 

 knife. The mercury salivated without any advantage, the stimulants and 

 the blisters aggravated the evil ; the setons did so in a tenfold degree, so 

 that many dogs were lost in the irritative fever that was produced ; and, 

 although the gland, when dissected out, could not be reproduced, yet I 

 have been puzzled with the complication of vessels around it, and in one 

 case lost my patient by hemorrhage, which I could not arrest. 



When the power of iodine in the dispersion of glandular tumours was 

 first spoken of, I eagerly tried it for this disease, and was soon satisfied 

 i hat it was almost a specific. I scarcely recollect a case in which the 

 glands have not very materially diminished ; and, in the decided majority 

 of cases, they have been gradually reduced to their natural size. I first 

 tried an ointment composed of the iodide of potassium and lard, with 

 some, but not a satisfactory result. Next I used the tincture of iodine, 

 in doses of from five to ten drops, and with or without any external 

 local application ; but I found, at length, that the simple iodine, made 

 into pills with powdered gum and syrup, effected almost all that I 

 could wish. It is best to commence with the eighth of a grain for a small 

 dog, and rapidly increase it to half a grain, morning and night. A larger 

 dog may take from a quarter of a grain to a grain. In a few instances, 

 loss of appetite and slight emaciation have been produced ; but then, the 

 medicine being suspended for a few days, no permanent ill effect has ever 

 followed the exhibition of iodine. 



