ABSCESS FORMATION IN SUBPAROTID LYMPH GLANDS. 
81 
hand meanwhile pressing on the swelling and guiding the inserted finger 
towards the abscess. This attained, a strong thrust breaks it and allows 
the escape of a stream of thick, creamy pus, which often spurts to a 
distance of several yards. To avoid being struck, it is better to place 
oneself on the opposite side. It may be necessary to operate on both 
o-lands. Some operators prefer to make the incision at the lower bore ei 
of the parotid, below the submaxillary vein. The finger is then passed 
upwards and inwards; sometimes the abscess can only be openec y 
using a closed pair of round-pointed scissors, as the tissue is very resis¬ 
tant. 0 This method gives equal security against injuring the parotid or 
important vessels, and gives a depending oiifice. . _ . 
With drainage of the abscess, fever falls, and difficulties m breathing 
and swallowing disappear. Healing occurs in eight to fourteen days, but 
complete closure of the abscess sometimes requires from three to six 
weeks. Warmth and moist applications (Preismtz’s poultices) further 
the breaking down of the swelling; the pus is removed by pressure an 
washing out the cavity with carbolic or sublimate lotion; further trea - 
ment is not usually necessary. This procedure, as already stated, is 
preferable to the use of sharp instruments, and especially to the of 
recommended trochar. Cadiot and Dollar describe a case of “ cold 
abscess ” in this region which had existed for three months. A little 
inodorous whitish mucous discharge ran from the nostrils. A swelling 
occupied the submaxillary and laryngeal regions and extended on either 
side of the parotis. Swallowing was difficult, and the animal ate an 
drank slowly. The swelling was opened as above described, a pint of 
whitish laudable pus evacuated, and a drainage-tube inserted. Recoveiy 
was rapid. (“ Clinical Veterinary Medicine and Surgery,” p. 336.) 
(4) SALIVARY CALCULI AND CONCRETIONS. 
Calculus deposits are sometimes encountered in the ducts of the salivary 
glands, especially of the parotid, in horses and cattle, and may attain 
the size of a goose’s egg. They are commonest in the horse, ass, ox, 
and sheep. Schumann discovered one in a horse which weighed over 
7 ounces, and Stockfleth a similar one of 12f ounces, but calculi have 
been found weighing 75 ounces. Their form is oval, colour greyish- 
yellow, surface usually smooth, though where several are together they 
show facets. In herbivora, according to Lasaigne, they consist of 80 to 
90 per cent, carbonate of calcium, 3 per cent, phosphate of calcium, and 
9 to 10 per cent, of organic substances, composed chiefly of salivary 
corpuscles and bacteria. In men and carnivora, phosphate of calcium is 
an important ingredient. Foreign bodies entering the salivary duct, or 
injuries of the mucous membrane, are the usual immediate causes. The 
