Acute Mammitis 955 



failed to reduce the infection and inflammation but has appar- 

 ently intensified the disease. 



In the healthy udder, only a small amount of fluid can be 

 introduced under a gravity pressure of three or four feet. We 

 have succeeded in this manner in injecting little more than a 

 pint into a quarter from which five to eight times that volume of 

 milk had been withdrawn. This signifies that, in the health}- 

 udder, fluids injected through the teat pass into the cistern and 

 larger milk canals, but not into the smaller milk ducts and the 

 acini. 



In the vast majority of cases of mammitis, the small ducts 

 and acini, not the milk cisterns and larger canals, constitute 

 the chief center of disease. Fluids injected into the udder 

 usually reach the least important part of the gland only — the 

 cistern and large canals. As a consequence, not much can be 

 expected from this plan of handling. If the disease is largely 

 centered in the cistern and large sinuses, disinfection b}' intra- 

 mammary injections may prove highly efficient, but such cases 

 are in the minority. 



The selection of a disinfectant for such purpose is not highly 

 important, though certain principles may have clinical import- 

 ance. Boric and other acids tend to coagulate any casein or 

 albumen present. The same holds true of mercuric chloride, 

 and the salts of the heavy metals generally. Carbolic acid, 

 creolin and allied drugs are highly irritant. Probably lysol, 

 bacillol and other drugs of this group are most useful for 

 injection. 



Whatever disinfectant is employed, it must be in very weak 

 solution. Of lysol or bacillol, not to exceed 0.5% should be 

 used. The chief reliance should be placed upon the irrigation 

 of the cistern and sinuses with the warm water, rather than 

 upon the efficiency of the antiseptic contained. The various 

 soluble silver salts have been propo.sed for this purpose, but have 

 failed to secure a prominent place. 



b. Disinfection by external applications is an old plan of 

 handling. Probably in many cases, the practitioner has not had 

 disinfection in mind when applying it. Camphor, iodine and 

 mercury, in combination with various substances, have long been 

 used in the form of ointments thoroughly anointed over the 

 affected area. Their value has been stoutly asserted by practi- 



