480 ILLUSTRATED STOCK DOCTOR. 



remedy is starch bandages and splints. Distortions of the tail by which 

 it is curved awry, are remedied by wholly or partially severing the ten- 

 dons which are constricted or drawn. This, however, should never bo 

 attempted l)y one who does not understand the anatomy of the parts, 

 else mischief may be done. As a rule, however, any distortion, except it 

 be old and chronic, may be cured l)y taking proper measures, splintering, 

 bandaoin*!^, and the use of fomentations where relaxation is necessary. 

 These means the intelligence of the operator will readily suggest. 



XVni. Diseases of the Ear. 



Causes. — Injuries to the ear are generally caused by brutal treatment. 

 Twitching them, nipping and pulling upon them with the blacksmith's 

 plyers, and blows upon the head with cudgels, sometimes result in 

 troublesome bruises, ulcers and tumors that close the auditory passage. 



Deafness may be an organic defect, or it may be the effect of some 

 disease which has disordered- the head, and, by sympathy, the auditory 

 nerve ; and the sense of hearing is no doubt dulled by old age, even 

 when the horse may have been well used and reasonably free from dis- 

 ease ; but it results in most cases from pulling the ears, cutting or clip- 

 ping either them or the surrounding skin to remedy supposed defects, 

 and from beating upon the head. 



Sometimes scabby or mangy eruptions make their appearance upon the 

 tips of the ears and spread downward, covering them entirely ; but this 

 is most probably the accompaniment of some general skin disease. 



How to know it. — The cuts, breaks in the skin, or sutures, that result 

 from pulling, pinching, and twitching are readily discernible, as are also 

 the ulcers or suppurating sores in which they sometimes end. When the 

 tendons which sustain the ear in its upright position are broken, there is 

 no difficulty in perceiving it, as the ear drops down and flaps about with 

 the motions of the head and neck. 



Kunning sores, similar to the poll-evil, sometimes result ; but these 

 may be distinguished from that disease by their being confined more 

 closely to the ear, either inside or out. 



When deafness is suspected, an examination of the internal ear -will 

 be necessary ; and if the swollen parts or ulcers are not perceptibj©, some 

 artifice must be resorted to to find whether the hearing is actually de- 

 stroyed. Deafness may be only temporary, as is sometimes the case 

 with man, and the matter can be decided only by making a series of 

 examinations. 



What to do. — A simple laceration of the skin, and even of the cartilage, 

 if small, will require no special attention ; but if it is so great that the 



