THK OKGANS OF SPECIAL SENSE. 227 



cooling of the surface of the body when heated. In the 

 local form it generally affects the top of the head, neck, 

 and back, but in the general form it occurs all over the 

 body, under which circumstances the thin skin inside the 

 thighs, on the belly, and inside the arms is found heightened 

 in colour, and shortly the hair falls off either in moist 

 patches or from almost the whole of the body, leaving the 

 animal bare. The patches are dark in colour and present 

 vesicular eruptions either spread broadcast or coalescing 

 to form vesicles of considerable size. As the vesicles 

 burst the watery fluid from them trickles down and dries 

 on the surface, either forming a sort of scurf or matting 

 the hair. This discharge is acrid, and, as Nunn points 

 out, may putrefy in the hair, causing the extremely putrid 

 smell of the affected animal if neglected in this stage of 

 the disorder. During the progress of the disease the 

 dog suffers much from irritation and causes ulcers and 

 sores of various kinds by biting, scratching, and tearing 

 himself in every possible way. These sores become 

 chronic and obstinately resist cure, especially when they 

 occur in the bends of joints. Thus in long-continued 

 cases the lesions of the chronic disease are found ; they 

 range from a scurfy state of some part of the skin (pity- 

 riasis) to hypertrophy of the cutis (psoriasis). In this 

 latter state the skin is thick (scurfy or with thick cuticle), 

 devoid of hair, puckered up into abnormal folds, between 

 which often lie sluggish ulcerated cracks. The affected 

 parts are insensitive and very unsightly. A local psoriasis, 

 forming elbow pads, callosities on the buttocks, and dry, 

 thick, hairless patches on other parts specially subjected to 

 pressure, is often seen in old watch-dogs kept constantly 

 chained up in kennels. Treatment. — In acute cases the 

 animal should receive a laxative dose followed up by 

 salines. When he is debilitated a course of tonics may be 

 tried, and the Liquor Arsenicalis is especially advocated. 

 The diet must be thoroughly examined and changed when 

 necessary, and the animal generally requires a reduction 

 in nutritive value of the food and increased exercise. 

 Oatmeal, meat food, and badly prepared or inferior dog 



