DISEASES OF THE UDDER AND TEATS IN COWS. 513 
cause* it frequently is a source of great annoyance, and some- 
times of danger* when two or three of the teats are affected at 
once. The treatment in many of these cases is rather un- 
satisfactory, and it appears to me anything but advisable, 
as Mr. Sibbald recommends* to “cut down upon them, or 
slit open the teat* to effect their removal,’ 5 for, as he justly 
observes, “ there would be great fear to be apprehended of a 
fistulous opening being left, or obliteration of the duct taking 
place.” 
1 have often thought whether it were possible to dilate the 
teat on the principle of Dr. Arnott’s fluid-pressure dilator, in 
the same way as Professor Morton and Sir Benjamin Brodie 
have recommended it for the purpose of dilating the urethra, 
in the extraction of calculi ; but here the great difficulty to 
be overcome would be in the dilatation of the sphincter , and I 
fear an insuperable one ; however, it is well worth the trial, 
and I recommend it to the notice of Professor Simonds, and 
his ingenious coadjutor Professor Morton. If the sphincter 
could be dilated, then, I think, there would be no great 
difficulty in extracting the pea-like obstruction by some 
curved cutting forceps, and in every probability the constant 
accumulation of milk would keep the parts distended. When 
dilated, a slight stricture might even be divided higher up 
in the teat. 
Some of the foregoing cases shew the imprudence of 
having recourse to the too often violent use of the silver milk 
tube, when by the introduction of a silver probe, and by 
fomentations and gentle manipulations, the concretion formed 
in the passage might be overcome. 
There are veterinarians who recommend the external use 
of iodine in these case, but from my experience, I cannot 
say that I ever saw much good done by it, as the remedy is 
too slow in its action to be of any use in removing these, I 
may say, old and organised deposits. It would be no bad 
plan for farmers occasionally to examine into the state of 
the teats, for if such disease was found to exist, then the use 
of iodine might be of great service in the incipient state of 
disease. In other cases, by its use, and the necessary intro- 
duction of the milk tube, we too often produce inflammation 
of the teat, and which extends to the udder. 
There are cases where the obstruction lies not in the teat, 
but in the mammary ducts. Some of these will get well by 
the antiphlogistic treatment ; others there are of a perma- 
ment nature. This is an important subject, and I hope it 
may draw other veterinary surgeons to the consideration 
of it. 
XXVII. 
67 
