DISEASES OF THE WITHERS. 771 



pain caused by this compels the animal to abstain from aU move- 

 ment, and besides this the inflammatory sweUiag resulting from 

 the blister promotes the cicatrizing process by stimulating the 

 proliferation of the cells of the repairing tissue. Aside from this 

 special direction, the treatment of wounds of the withers involves 

 no methods or indications different from those of similar hurts in 

 other parts of the body. In most cases the surgeon must trust 

 his experience and knowledge of general principles for guidance. 



(A) '■'Diseased Withers^'' proper: Fistulous Withers. — As we 

 have before stated, this denomination belongs to "a persisting 

 lesion, fistulous in character, due to the mortification of the tis- 

 sues of the withers, fibrous, yellow, cartilaginous or bony." It is 

 necrotic in its nature, and while it may attack but one, it may,, 

 also exist in all of these organs. 



"Whatever this condition may be, however, the necrosis is always 

 manifested externally by an indicator, in the form of a fistula giv- 

 ing exit to an abundant, thin pus, serous, sanious, grayish in color, 

 adhering to the hair, and irritating and excoriating the skin upon 

 which it flows. At first it is odorless, and nearly homogeneous, 

 but it soon becomes f cetid in odor and loaded with the detritus of 

 necrotic tissues, more or less abundant, varying in thickness and 

 in color, according to the nature of the tissue from which it is 

 formed. 



One or several of these fistulous openings may exist on one or 

 both sides of the withers leading from the same or from different 

 necrotic centers. Their number is not limited. Several of them 

 may be in existence at the same time, especially when the disease 

 has maintained its hold on the system for a period of three or 

 four months without being checked or cured ; a state of things 

 not infrequently witnessed. 



Their formation is explained by the constant accumulation of 

 the pus in the sinuosities of the original tract, which by degrees 

 overcomes the resistance of the surrounding structures, and es- 

 tablishes a channel for itself by the same process as that by 

 which the first outlet was formed. It may sometimes happen that 

 the opening of new canals becomes the cause of the closure, or 

 perhaps only the constriction, of the original channel, and a new 

 exploration becomes necessary to ascertain the new routes of the 

 fluid. In this case their direction will be best made out by the 

 injection of liquids through their open mouths. 



