446 DISEASES OF THE HOHSEi 



disease must be guarded against. Above allj cleanliness and purity 

 of the stable and air must be secured; also nourishing diet, regular 

 exercise,, and the avoidance of local irritants — ^septic, muddy, chilling, 

 etc. At the outset benzoated oxide of zinc ointment may he used with 

 advantage. A still better dressing is made with 1 ounce vaseline, 2 

 drams oxide of zinc, and 20 drops iodized phenol. If the surface is 

 much swollen and tender, a flaxseed poultice may be applied over the 

 surface of which has been poured some of the following lotion : Sugar 

 of lead, one-half ounce; carbolic acid, 1 dram; water, 1 quart. All 

 the astringents of the pharmacopoeia have been employed with more 

 or less advantage, and some particular one seems to suit particular 

 cases or patients. To destroy the grapes, they may be rubbed daily 

 with strong caustics (copperas, bluestone, lunar caustic), or each may 

 be tied round its neck by a stout waxed thread, or, finally and more 

 speedily, they may be cut off by a blacksmith's shovel heated to red- 

 ness and applied with its sharp edge toward the neck of the excres- 

 cence, over a cold shovel held between it and the skin to protect the 

 skin from the heat. The cold shovel must he kept cool by frequent 

 dipping in water. After the removal of the grapes the astringent 

 dressing must be persistently applied to the surface. When the frog 

 is affected, it must be pared to the quick and dressed with dry caustic 

 powders (quicklime, copperas, bluestone) or carbolic add and sub- 

 jected to pressure, the dressing being renewed every day at least. 



ERl'SIPELAS. 



This is a specific contagious disease, characterized by spreading 

 dropsical inflammation of the skin and subcutaneous tissues, attended 

 by general fever. It differs from most specific diseases in the absence 

 of a definite period of incubation, a regular course and duration, and 

 a conferring of immunity on the subject after recovery. On the con- 

 trary, one attack of erysipelas predisposes to another, partly, doubt- 

 less, by the loss of tone and vitality in the affected tissues, but also, 

 perhaps, because of the survival of the infecting germ. 



Cause. — It is no longer to be doubted that the microbes found in the 

 inflammatory product are the true cause of erysipelas, as the disease 

 can be successfully transferred from man to animals and from one 

 animal to another by their means. This transition may be direct or 

 through the medium of infected buildings or other articles. Yet from 

 the varying severity of erysipelas in different outbreaks and localities 

 it has been surmised that various different microbes are operative in 

 this disease, and a perfect knowledge of these might perhaps enable us 

 to divide erysipelas into two or more distinct affections. At present 

 we must recognize it as a specific inflammation due to a bacterial 

 poison and closely allied to septicemia. Erysipelas was formerly 



