962 Veterinary Obstetrics 



is important also, as has been suggested in dealing with the 

 causes of the disease, that the tails of neighboring cows should be 

 kept disinfected, or, preferably, that a cow suffering from mam- 

 mitis should not be kept so near to a healthy cow that a transfer 

 of the infection from one to another, through the medium of the 

 tail or otherwise, is probable. 



In wounds of the teats or udder, it is highly important that 

 the disinfection 9f these should be as complete as it is in the 

 power of the practitioner to command, in order to avoid the en- 

 trance of infection through the teat orifice into the gland. In 

 dealing with metritis, or other disease accompanied by infective 

 discharges from the vulva, which may flow down over and soil 

 the udder and teats, the practitioner should exercise care in order 

 to prevent the infection from gaining entrance into the teats. 



The surgical handling of mammitis consists in the opening of 

 abscesses, the detachment of necrotic areas, or the amputation of 

 the gland. 



The handling of abscesses of the mammae offers few special 

 problems as compared with the handling of abscesses of other 

 portions of the body. Following the general rule of procedure, 

 they should be opened as early as fluctuation is clearly present ; 

 the opening should be free and dependent as in other abscesses ; 

 the abscess cavity should be thoroughly disinfected and any ne- 

 crotic tissue lying within the cavity should be removed. 



In some instances of suppuration, the pus collects very largely 

 in the milk cistern and is discharged through the orifice of the 

 teat. In some cases this discharge of pus is not as free as should 

 be, and it is occasionally advisable to amputate the end of the 

 teat in order to secure a perfectly free opening. The question of 

 the preservation of .the teat is usually of no significance, because 

 the quarter has lost its power of again secreting milk and is 

 consequently useless. 



In some instances of severe mammitis, with great enlargement 

 of the udder and extreme tension of the capsule of the gland, 

 the virulence of the disease may be largely overcome by long 

 and deep scarifications, by which the capsule is incised at a 

 number of places in such a manner as to relieve the compression 

 of the gland. This may be followed by liberal bathing with 

 warm antiseptic solutions. In this way gangrene of the gland 

 may be avoided, and the inflammation largely overcome; but after 



