DISEASES OF THE GENERATIVE OEGANS. 155 



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 when 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 houi^s there may be indications of advancing 

 gangi'ene (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 shall 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 a strap around the patient with soft pads in contact with 

 the affected parts, constantly soaked in cold water for at least 24 

 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 with 

 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 active 

 inflammation persists. In case the swelling continues hard and resist- 

 ant, 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 chh)rin 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 care- 

 ful antiseptic treatment. The soaking of the urine into the inflamed 

 and softened tissue and the setting up of putrefactive action not only 

 endanger great destruction of the tissues from putrid inflammation, 

 but even threaten life itself from a general blood poisoning (septice- 

 mia). Every case should have skillful treatment to meet its various 

 phases, but in the severe ones this is most urgently demanded. 



