40 Surgical Diseases and Surgery of the Dog 



Treatment. Early and free removal is indicated, before the 

 lymphatics become implicated. 



BIBLIOGEAPHY. 



Bonrnay — Kev. V§t§r. Oct., 1899. 



Gruber— Arch. f. Anat. und Pbys. 1867, p. 542. 



The Eyes 



CONGENITAL MALFOBMATIONS. 



Sequestration Dermoid is a not infrequent form of growth of 

 congenital origin consisting of a patch of skin usually bearing tufts 

 of hair, situated on the mucosa lining the surface of the eyeball. 

 The explanation of its occurrence will be found in the chapter on 

 Neoplasms. It may be unilateral or bilateral and while it is usually 

 confined to the conjunctiva covering the sclera at the outer canthus, 

 it may also involve the corneal surface. 



Treatment. The growth is operable, indeed, if not removed, it 

 will sometimes slowly enlarge. The animal should be narcotized 

 and the cornea anesthetized with cocaine. The growth is then 

 seized with forceps and detached by cautious dissection. To prevent 

 blood from beclouding the area a stream of warm sterilized water 

 should be played over the eye during the operation. A white cicatrix 

 usually develops which, however, is scarcely noticeable. Should the 

 growth extend far over the cornea, it is best to leave that portion of 

 it untouched. 



Congenital Opacity of the Cornea. This is occasionally seen 

 in the form of minute whitish spots which tend to clear up sponta- 

 neously. 



Persistent Pupillary Membrane. As the term indicates, this is 

 a condition in which the delicate membrane covering the anterior 

 surface of the lens during the greater part of intrauterine life, fails 

 to undergo complete resolution and persists as fibers, either singly 

 or in strands, passing across the pupil, or as a vascular, slightly 

 opaque membrane, floating or adherent to the capsule of the lens. 

 The condition would seem to be hereditary in some cases, for Bar- 

 rier recorded an instance in an animal whose dam had the same affec- 

 tion and had given birth to another blind litter, and whose sire had 

 suffered from some visual defect the nature of which was not de- 

 termined. 



