584 



DISEASES OF THE SKIN. 



Treatment. The number and diversity of medicaments which 

 have been tried against follicular mange testify to the uncertainty 

 and impotence of our armamentarium. It has been recommended 

 to use various preparations containing carbolic acid, cresol, benzol, 

 petroleum, balsam of Peru, styrax, mercurials, cantharides, flowers 

 of sulphur, naphthalin, oil of juniper, sulphur ointments, etc. ; 

 also washing of the skin with bran bath, ash lye, and green soap. 

 The medicaments which have given us the best results are balsam 

 of Peru, cantharides ointment, sulphate of potash, and sublimate 

 ointment. 



1. Balsam of Peru, advised by Siedamgrotzky, must be used in 

 daily frictions, to be repeated for weeks, taking care to fold the 

 skin beforehand and burst the pustules. This agent cures animals 

 having mange localized in a few regions, and even generalized 

 mange. It has given us successful results when we were able to 

 continue its use for some time ; in one case the treatment lasted 

 fifty-eight days. In an animal affected by follicular mange of much 

 gravity we observed at the end of sixteen weeks an evident im- 

 provement, which might have been taken for a cure, but the mange 

 returned some time later. In some cases the treatment must be 

 prolonged for several months ; it is very expensive, and the disease 

 is generally aggravated during the first weeks of the treatment. 



2. The medication used by Brusasco at the Turin School con- 

 sists in washing the diseased skin with a solution of sulphate of 

 potash (5 grammes ; water, 1 litre), and then rubbing it with can- 

 tharides ointment (cantharides ointment, 1 part ; lard, 6 parts). It 

 has several times given us a rapid cure in serious cases ; but can- 

 tharides ointment is extremely dangerous for the eyes — it may 

 produce a purulent panophthalmia which is sometimes fatal ; it is 

 therefore proper in all cases to restrict ourselves to the use of 

 balsam of Peru for the peri-ocular region. Brusasco's treatment 

 is applied in the following manner : on the first day the animal, 

 which has been shorn beforehand, is placed for some time in a bath 

 which is prepared with 200 grammes of sulphate of potash and 70 

 litres of water (for a large dog) ; on the second day cantharides 

 ointment is applied upon one-third of the body, on the third day 

 upon the second third, and on the fourth day upon the rest. 

 Twenty-four to forty-eight hours afterward the patient is to be 

 washed thoroughly, then he is left quiet for several days, and later 

 the treatment is to be repeated. We do not by any means always 



