DISEASES OF THE GENEEATIVE ORGANS. 153 



INFLAMMATION OF THE SHEATH AND PENIS FROM BRUISING. 



This also is an affection of work oxen, caused by the pressure and 

 friction of the sling Avhen the animals are held in stocks for shoe- 

 ing. This crushing of both sheath and penis for half an hour or more 

 leads to the development, some hours later, of a hard, hot, and pain- 

 ful swelling, extending from the scrotum as far as the opening of the 

 sheath. Fever sets in, with dry muzzle, red eyes, hard, full, rapid 

 pulse, accelerated breathing, and elevated temperature. The ox 

 stands obstinately with his hind legs drawn apart and urine falling 

 drop by drop from the sheath. Appetite and rumination are sus- 

 pended. In twenty-four hours there may be indications of advancing 

 gangrene (mortification), the swelling becomes cold, soft, and 

 doughy; it may even crack slightly from the presence of gas; a red- 

 dish brown, fetid liquid oozes from the swelling, especially around the 

 edges, and if the animal survives it is only with a great loss of sub- 

 stance of the sheath and penis. 



Prevention. — The prevention of such an injury is easy. It is only 

 necessary to see that the slings do not press upon the posterior part 

 of the abdomen. They must be kept in front of the sheath. 



Treatment. — Treatment, to be effective, must be prompt and judi- 

 cious. Put around the patient a strap with soft pads in contact with 

 the affected parts, constantly soaked in cold water for at least 2-1 

 hours. A pound or two of Epsom salt in 4 quarts of hot water 

 should also be given. The second day the parts may be washed witli 

 1 quart of witch-hazel (extract), 2 drams sugar of lead, and 1 ounce 

 laudanum, or the cold-water irrigations may be continued if the ac- 

 tive inflammation persists. In case the swelling continues hard and 

 resistant, it may be pricked at the most prominent points to the depth 

 of one-third of an inch with a lancet first dipped in dilute carbolic 

 acid, and the whole surface should be washed frequently with chlorin 

 water or other antiseptic. 



When softening occurs in the center of a hard mass and fluctuation 

 can be felt between two fingers pressed on different parts of such soft- 

 ening, it should be freely opened to let out the putrid pus, and the 

 cavity should be syringed often with chlorin water. 



In bad cases extensive sloughs of dead skin, of the whole wall of 

 the sheath, and even of the penis, may take place, which will require 

 careful antiseptic treatment. The soaking of the urine into the in- 

 flamed and softened tissue and the setting up of putrefactive action 

 not only endanger great destruction of the tissues from putrid in- 

 flammation, but even threaten life itself from a general blood poison- 

 ing (septicemia). Every case should have skillful treatment to meet 

 its various phases, but in the severe ones this is most urgently de- 

 manded. 



