298 
FISTULOUS WITHERS. 
means of prevention are sufficiently evident — and prevention is at 
all times better than cure. A description of your locality would 
enable me better to judge respecting this point. 
I am rather surprised that you have failed in effecting a cure when 
the tumours have been cut out at an early stage, as that proceed- 
ing has commonly succeeded. I should not have expected much 
from the setons, unless they had been passed through the substance 
of the tumours. Butyr of antimony should not have been applied 
when the tumours were cut out ; for if this was neatly and cleanly 
done, the incision ought to have been allowed to heal as a simple 
wound. If any caustic had been adopted, it should have been 
caustic potash, so as to have formed an issue. This is done by trim- 
ming off the hair, wetting the surface of the skin over the tumour, 
and applying the end of a piece of the caustic until it penetrates the 
skin, or destroys it so as to cause a sloughing to come away. 
When that is accomplished, which will be in one or two days, a 
fresh dressing may be applied, so as to penetrate into the substance 
of the tumour. The dressings should be renewed daily, and, after 
two or three days, the wound may be allowed to heal. 
An ointment composed of one part of hydriodate of potash and 
eight of lard, rubbed daily and well on the part, will sometimes 
cause the absorption of the tumours. Of late I have been using 
the iodine in double this proportion, and with decided good effect. 
W. Dick. 
Fistulous Withers. 
My dear Sir, 
You would much oblige me by your advice with regard to a se- 
vere and protracted case of fistulous withers. The spinous pro- 
cess of the fourth vertebra was fractured by the bite of a carriage 
horse. The case was neglected, or badly treated, for four months, 
when it was put into my hands. 
After securing the animal, I removed the diseased parts, scraped 
the bone which had become carious, and could then perceive that 
the disease was deeply seated between the base of the shoulders. 
The treatment, after the operation, consisted of warm fomenta- 
tions, and a wash of a solution of chloride of lime. The wound, 
extensive as it was, healed, except that there remained a small 
opening, from which issued a fluid of the consistence of cream. 
This continued during three weeks, when I operated a second time, 
cauterized the parts, and introduced a seton from above, carrying 
it obliquely forwards and downwards. 
The seton was removed ten days ago, and the parts are closed, 
