DISEASES OF THE TAIL. 
491 
worse, though at times it seems to remain nearly stationary, and allows 
animals to be used for considerable periods at a walking pace. 
Treatment. In paralysis, the animal must have a suitable soft bed 
and be frequently turned over to prevent decubitus. Easily digested 
food is indicated. The bladder and rectum must be emptied from time 
to time, and sometimes purgatives are allowable. Further treatment 
must depend on the nature of the cause ; rest and cold applications are 
indicated in superficial mechanical injuries; hot moist packs or applica¬ 
tions of hot sand or bran in rheumatism ; at the same time the muscies 
may be rubbed with stimulant lotions, &c. 
In incomplete paralysis, treatment must be based on a knowledge of 
the original cause; when this is mechanical, the animal should be placed 
in slings. Rheumatic conditions are to be treated as above. When 
inflammation of the spinal cord or its membranes is suspected, irritants 
like mustard poultices or cantharides can be employed. To combat 
atrophy of the muscles, gentle exercise should, as far as possible, be 
given, and the parts massaged by kneading or striking (tapotement). 
In horses good results have been said to follow subcutaneous injection 
of veratrin. 
In dogs, the continuous or induced electric current may be employed. 
The induced current can scarcely be used in horses, on account of their 
great sensitiveness to it and the resistance they offer. 
In dogs, Z wicker recommends injecting 7 to 10 minims of a solution 
prepared as follows: Eserin, '6; pilocarpin, 1*2; water, 80. He gives 
carbonate of potash solution in syrup internally. 
Mourot claims to have cured paraplegia in a horse in three weeks by 
subcutaneous injections of testicular extract from a goat. After removing 
its envelopes the testicle was rubbed into a paste with water, and a 
quantity subcutaneously injected each day. Until confirmed from other 
quarters, such reports will be received with caution. 
IX.—DISEASES OF THE TAIL. 
(1) Putting on one side operative wounds, injuries of the tail are most 
frequent in dogs and oxen. In the former they are caused by blows 
and treads, by the tail being struck against the walls of the kennel or 
other objects, or by its being run over. Defective sensibility seems to 
play a certain role here. Paraesthesia, that is, abnormal subjective 
sensibility, sometimes causes dogs to gnaw the point of the tail so as to 
lay bare the vertebrae; Prietsch saw this in a lion. 
In cows, bruises are produced by blows from sticks, by violently 
bending the tail to make the animal move, or by squeezing it between 
two sticks, which is done for the same object, and often in a very rough 
