694 PATHOLOGY OF PARTURITION. 



England, the extract of belladonna is much used as an application to the 

 inflamed gland. Eychner recommends an ointment made with soft 

 soap and this extract ; Hertwig gives his testimony in favour of cam- 

 phorated pomade ; while some prefer simple lard. Strong mercurial 

 ointment has been greatly extolled as an anodyne and emollient, and 

 justly so. Its constitutional effects should be watched, and care must 

 be taken that the progeny is not allowed to suck the teat. 



Stimulating applications should not be employed, unless the disease 

 is in a chronic form, and then their effect must be noted. 



When suppuration appears to be inevitable, this process should be 

 expedited by every means, so as to concentrate the pus at one point, if 

 possible. The warm poultice or fomentations should be continued, and 

 it may even be advantageous to apply mercurial ointment, ammoniacal 

 liniments, and such other " maturatives " as blisters. The abscess is to 

 be treated according to general principles ; it should be opened as soon 

 as fluctuation can be detected, and for this purpose the bistoury or 

 lancet may be employed ; though some practitioners prefer the actual 

 cautery, which, they believe, does not entail so much risk of haemorrhage, 

 favours the exit of indurated parts, affords a better means for the escape 

 of pus, and the resulting wound heals up more readily. When opened, 

 the wound demands only ordinary treatment — cleanliness, detersive or 

 stimulant dressings, carbolic oil or lotion, etc. To prevent the opening 

 closing too early — which it may do when the abscess has been opened 

 by the bistoury, it will be necessary to introduce a small tent of lint or 

 fine tow. 



Sometimes several abscesses are developed simultaneously or succes- 

 sively in the tumour, and are separated from each other by thin septa. 

 In such a case, having opened the largest abscess, it often happens that 

 the pus from the others drains through the opening, converting it into 

 a fistula. In such circumstances, a counter-opening must be made ; 

 and if there is any necrotic tissue to be found, it should be removed. In 

 all operations on the mannnary glands, the incisions should be carefully 

 made, and no larger than is absolutely necessary. 



When the abscesses are deep-seated in the texture of the gland or the 

 connective tissue, it frequently happens that, in opening them, one or 

 perhaps more of the milk-ducts are wounded, and then we may have 

 " lacteal fistuUe." From these the milk escapes, and this renders their 

 cicatrisation difficult and tedious, if the gland is active. The treatment 

 must chiefly consist in the application of caustics to the walls of the 

 fistulae, in order to hasten granulation — the nitrate of silver, chloride of 

 zinc, tincture of iodine, or even the actual cautery, being generally 

 resorted to. Sometimes a cure cannot be effected until the gland has 

 become " dry." In some cases a pitch plaster or one of marine glue is 

 useful, or the pressure of a broad elastic band when the fistula is situ- 

 ated at the base of the teat. 



The occurrence of gangrene is always serious, though of course it is 

 not so grave when limited as when diffuse. It generally leads to the 

 loss of one or more quarters, or even to the death of the animal from 

 icorrhaemia or septiksemia. When limited, little can be done, and in 

 some cases it is best to wait for the spontaneous elimination of the dead 

 portion : waiting and watching the process, supporting the strength of 

 the animal, accelerating the separation of the dead from the living 

 tissues, favouring the free escape of pus and putrid matters, so as to 

 hinder their absorption, making counter-openings, and applying anti- 



