DISEASES OF THE SCROTUM. 
405 
on the urethra resulting from a distended rectum. Abscesses in the 
gland can be evacuated through the rectum. Disinfectant fluids 
may be injected through the catheter. In chronic disease in man 
extirpation has been practised. Castration was warmly recommended 
as a cure for enlarged prostate in man by .J. William White, of 
Philadelphia. A number of cases were operated on with marked success, 
cases where the catheter had been used for years showing immediate 
improvement, and patients being able to urinate without assistance in 
five days after operation. Nevertheless, final judgment should be 
reserved, though the operation is more likely to prove satisfactory in 
dogs, which occasionally suffer from enlarged prostate, than in men. 
E. H. Clarke operated on an eight year old bull dog, in which the 
prostate had become enlarged to the size of a billiard ball, a portion as 
large as a walnut being ossified. The symptoms consisted chiefly in 
straining as if to pass faeces, and were only marked for three months 
before death. Mr. Clarke purposed forming a perineal fistula, but as 
the conditions appeared unfavourable when operation was advanced, 
the dog was killed with chloroform. The description of symptoms, 
treatment, and especially of the post-mortem examination and 
microscopical appearances of the growth, are fully given in Cadiot and 
Dollar’s “ Clinical Veterinary Medicine and Surgery,” p. 391. 
¥.—DISEASES OF THE SCROTUM. 
(a) Apart from those caused by operative interference, injuries, 
wounds, and bruises are comparatively rare in animals, in consequence 
of the sheltered position of the scrotum. In dogs, however, the scrotum 
is sometimes bitten, and injuries may be caused in other animals 
by fragments of glass and wood, and, during attempts to jump hedges, 
by thorns. In horses the scrotum is sometimes injured by the 
carriage-pole, and decubital gangrene readily occurs in dogs after lying 
long in one position, as during paraplegia or distemper. In delivering a 
prognosis, it should be particularly noted whether or not the injuries 
are of a penetrating character, and have affected the testicle. By 
penetrating wounds are meant those which extend to the processus 
vaginalis or peritoneal cavity. But even in penetrating wounds the 
prognosis and chance of recovery are favourable, provided there is no 
diffuse peritonitis, though the testicle can seldom be saved, on account of 
the danger of infection extending to the peritoneum. Severe bruises and 
injuries followed by extensive gangrene must be viewed as dangerous. 
Superficial wounds, on the other hand, generally heal readily. 
Treatment. The parts are first thoroughly cleansed, and then 
carefully examined, to determine the area of the injury. If the testicle 
is to be saved, strict antiseptic treatment will be required. In large 
