COLOMBO. 
Added as a Sm^lcnient Monthly to the " TBOPIGAL AGRICULTURIST r 
The following pages include the Contents of the Agricultural Magazine for 
November : — . . 
Vol. XI.] 
NOVEMBER, 1899. 
[No. 5. 
\^ETEEINAEY NOTES. 
case of cancer in a dog was brought 
to me for treatment about the 15th 
of June, -with the liistory that the 
animal was landed only a couplo 
of days or so ago. The animal 
was twice before operated on in England. 
1 noticed the sheath enormously swollen, with 
a bloody discharge of the characteristic symptom 
of cancer in penis, was noticeable. The case was 
taken in hand, and operated on by me, and the 
cancerous portion entirely removed. I informed 
the client that this operation wo'.ild not readily 
effect a cure, if the animal was not castrated ; 
for when the growth was cut away, the cancer 
would have more room to spread, and so the 
necessity of an operation for castration was 
brought home to my client, who agreed with great 
hesitation, thinking that the animal being old, 
might not be able to stand the operation ; besides, 
the owner of the dog (Co]. Webster) was away. 
The dog underwent the operation, and being a 
pet animal the efiects of the operation were very 
muck felt, but with difficulty he came round. 
Soon after the wounds of castration were healed. 
1 examined the sheath and found another crop of 
cancer which had to be removed, but with less 
difficulty than in the former instance. 1 did not 
see the animal after this till he was brouglit to 
me on the 13th September, when I noticed just 
a bit of growth at the root of and inside the 
sheath ; this too I removed. Finally, the animal 
was brought to me on the 16th October, when I 
hardly noticed any growth or bloody discharge. 
The operation of castration not only prevented 
the spread of this baneful disease, but helped a 
great deal in the cure. 
Though the metliod of firing and blistering of 
the out-of-date farrier has now given way to tlie 
more rational treatment of the modern Veterinary 
Surgeon, branding or the use of the actual cautery 
is still achnitted to be indispensable under certain 
circumstances, it is therefore not fair to put it 
down as being a relict of a barbarous age, but it 
should be recognised that tliough at one time it was 
practised indiscriminately it is now adopted ia 
extreme cases under expert veterinary advice. 
Tliis is how matters stand in advanced countries 
where the necessity for veterinary control over tlie 
treatment of animals is recognised, but in Ceylon 
it is found that laymen are the censors when 
questions of "cruelty" in the form of branding are 
to be decided, and this leaves matters in as unsatis- 
factory a state as under tlie old system, so that it 
becomes a question with us whether tlie native 
empiric cattle doctor who is allowed to practise his 
"profession" without let or hindrance is abetter 
judge of the necessity of branding or the inex- 
perienced laymen who generally sit in judgment 
on him. Tlie only equitable way of settling the 
question of cruelty or otherwise in cases of brand« 
iug, when there is reason to suspect cruelty, is by 
referring the matter to an expert. 
"Mango Lodge," Cinnamon Gardens, 
Dear Sir, — I herewith send you a copy of a 
letter received from Georce Murray, Esq., of 
Pallekelle. I would like to add that the material 
used in this case was not pure but glycerinatecl 
