g8 Veterinary Medicine. 



Puncture of the pouch at its lower part is a very simple opera- 

 tion when the accumulation of pus is abundant and chronic. 

 The distended pouch gravitates downward, largely separating the 

 parotid from the deeper vessels and nerves, and finally fluctuates 

 toward the lower end of the gland. In extreme cases it even 

 opens and discharges. When fluctuation can be felt the sac may 

 be incised with a bistuory or abscess knife and treated like a com- 

 mon sore. Opening with a pointed or olive-shaped cautery has 

 the advantage of checking haemorrhage and securing more per- 

 fect drainage. When there is no fluctuation the incision must be 

 made just beneath the lower border of the parotid, the parotido- 

 auricularis being first cut through, then the gland dissected from 

 the deeper parts when the distended sac can usually be felt and 

 opened. If not felt at once it can easily be reached by a careful 

 dissection upward through the loose subparotidean connective 

 tissue, with the finger nail or handle of the scalpel. A free open- 

 ing may be made and the wound injected daily with a weak 

 antiseptic solution. 



CONCRETIONS IN THE GUTTURAI, POUCHES. 



Hard cretaceous masses have been met with in the guttural 

 pouches. Dellagana met with an extraordinary case at Bankok, 

 Siam. The' subject was an aged Australian mare which rejected 

 both food and drink through the nose. She stood in great dis- 

 tress, fore legs wide apart, head and neck extended, could not 

 lower the head nor turn it to one side. Dyspnoea great. Par- 

 otidean region very hard, resistant, swollen and tense. Tem- 

 perature ioi° F. No cough. Was treated with the view of 

 hastening suppuration and pointing, but in a few hours the pa- 

 tient suddenly dropped dead. 



' ' A post mortem examination made the following morning re- 

 vealed lesions of intense inflammatory action. The tongue (root 

 and dorsum), post nares, pharynx and larynx were alike affected. 

 The guttural pouches were literally crammed with concretions 

 and pus, which, on removal, filled an ordinary stable bucket of 

 about three gallons capacity. In size the concretions varied 

 from that of a pea to a hazel nut. The pus was thick and 

 creamy and not putrid. The lungs were congested ard the mu- 



