ECZEMA. 



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far as the forearm or thigh. Thrush is a frequent phenomenon 

 of chronic grease. 



Treatment. The treatment of these eczematous affections varies 

 according to the stage of the disease. At the beginning, attention 

 to cleanliness of the skin, absorbing powders (oxide of zinc and 

 starch), powdered oak-bark, lead or zinc ointment are sufficient. In 

 advanced stao;es we must resort to more active measures. We seek 

 first of all to prevent the secretions and their decomposition by 

 means of drying powders and astriugents. Liniments of creosote 

 or tar are here of some service ; drying powders (oak-bark, sul- 

 phate of iron, plaster, charcoal, etc.) and astringent baths (solution 

 of alum, decoction of oak-bark, etc.) are also of advantage. When 

 the affection is benign we may obtain the cure by application of 

 continuous iodoform dressing for a certain time. In cases where 

 granulations or callosities exist (elephant's foot) all these means 

 remain without effect — an integral restoration has become impossi- 

 ble. The treatment must then be exclusively surgical — it is that 

 of cutaneous neoformations ; we must limit ourselves to extirpation 

 and cauterization of the granulations which are growing too rapidly. 



C. Eczematous Diseases of the Ox. 



Generalized eczema is more rare in the ox than in the horse, but 

 the forms of the eruption are nearly the same in both species. Thus 

 we observe papulo-vesiculous and squamous eczema in the shape of 

 rash, strophulus, scurvy, or inanition mange (Hungerraude) ; we 

 find also on the extremity of the tail an impetiginous eczema simi- 

 lar to plica. In the ox more than in all other animals a certain 

 alimentary regimen has been incriminated. In old treatises " stalk- 

 disease''^ occupies an important place. This disease is nothing 



It starts always on the lower parts (pastern, fetlock), but it often extends above the 

 hock. The diseased extremity, which is regularly hypertrophied, is hard and not 

 sensitive to the touch; it may reach enormous proportions, especially on the fetlock; 

 the skin of the coronet sometimes forms a voluminous swelling above the hoof. 

 Lesions of the same nature may be observed on the sheath, the region of the girth, in 

 front of the shoulders, and the dewlap in the ox. A dissection of the diseased tissues 

 shows, in addition to their hardness and fibrous transformation, an enormous dilata- 

 tion of the lymphatic vessels and sometimes an ossification of the periosteal connective 

 tissue in the metatarsal and phalangeal regions. According to Cadéac, elephantiasis 

 of the ox must be related to anasarca (see Revue Vet., 1884). — n. d. t. 



1 Stalk-disease or grass fire is generally described as a vesiculous eruptive disease 

 which is localized on the forelegs, the udder, the lips, and which are accompanied or 

 not by itching. It is not of any gravity; it always ends in a cure. In oxen afiected 



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