220 THE DISEASES OV THE DO0. 



in days gone by, when cankers of the ear were treated 

 with powerful irritants, than now, but I have notes on a 

 case where post-mortem examination showed extensive 

 suppurative disease of the bony walls of the internal ear. 



Deafness is well marked in some dogs, either the result 

 of congenital want of development of the auditory nervous 

 apparatus or from a blocking up of the auditory canal as 

 a result of disease. This latter condition is a not very 

 rare sequela of internal canker, and it may also arise from 

 the growth of tumours. Temporary inconvenience of this 

 nature results from the turgescence of the skin caused by 

 inflammation of the ear. A form of disorder, resulting 

 from too low " cropping " or amputation of the conchial 

 cartilage, consisted in retraction of the divided ring of 

 skin into the auditory canal and union of the granulating 

 edges, whereby the cerumen became enclosed and some- 

 times abscess took place. In the present day such close 

 cropping is seldom resorted to ; it was considered useful, 

 especially for bull-dogs, to prevent their antagonists using 

 the ear-flaps to hold on to during fighting. The operation 

 of cutting the external ear is resorted to still by dog 

 fanciers, but the canine surgeon will practise it only when 

 it is rendered necessary by disease. Peuch describes the 

 process of amputation by the scissors or the " pince limi- 

 tative." 



Internal Canker is specially defined as an inflammation 

 of the skin of the inner surface of the external ear, but it 

 is generally associated with external canker when that 

 disease is present. It owes its special characters to the 

 fact that the ceruminous glands are affected in cases where 

 the canal is invaded, and hence a red or almost black 

 matter oozes from the external orifice ; to the swollen skin 

 blocking up that opening and rendering the escape of the 

 discharge gradual and painful ; to the fact that the parts 

 are made much worse by the tendency of the animal to con- 

 stantly shake the head and to flap the ears, causing them to 

 ulcerate, and by the difficulty in applying agents for cura- 

 tive purposes to the affected skin lining the canal. This 

 disease is first denoted by redness of the inflamed skin, 



