318 ON THE DISEASES OF THE EARS OF DOGS. 
will speedily follow : sometimes deep in the passage, and only 
to be detected by moulding the ear, when the squash of the 
effused pus will be heard; at other times spreading over the full 
extent of the annular cartilage, and occasionally occupying the 
whole of the inside of the ear, to its very tip. However exten¬ 
sive and annoying it may be, and occasionally causing so much 
thickening of the integument as perfectly to close the ear, it is 
always superficial: the cartilage of the ear is never in the 
slightest degree affected, the membrane which separates the 
internal mechanism of the ear from the external passage is never 
destroyed, and the accounts of cancerous affections are altogether 
imaginary. The animal may, notwithstanding, suffer extreme 
pain, and the acrid discharge from the ulcer may produce exten¬ 
sive excoriation of the cheek, and the system may sympathize 
with the excessive local irritation, and the animal may be lost. 
The treatment here must vary with circumstances, although a 
seton is indicated whenever there is ulceration. If the ulceration 
be deep in the ear, and there be not much apparent inflammation, 
recourse may be had at once to a stimulating and astringent ap¬ 
plication, either the alum solution, or a solution of w r hite vitriol, 
in the proportion of six grains to an ounce of water: but if the 
ulceration occupies the greater part of the hollow of the ear, and 
is accompanied by much thickening of the skin, and apparent 
filling up of the entrance to the ear, some portion of the inflam¬ 
mation must be first subdued. The ear must be frequently fo¬ 
mented with a decoction of white poppies; to this must follow the 
Goulard lotion, and then the solution of alum. To the soreness, or 
scabby eruption, which extends higher up the ear, olive oil or 
spermaceti ointment may be applied. In some cases portions of 
the thickened skin, projecting and excoriated, and pressing on 
each other, unite, and the opening into the ear is thus me¬ 
chanically filled. I know of no remedy for this. It is useless 
to perforate this adventitious substance, for the orifice will soon 
close; and even when I have made a crucial incision, and cut 
out the unnatural mass which closed the passage, I have found 
it impossible to keep dowm the fungous granulations, or to pre¬ 
vent total deafness. 
All dogs improperly gross and fat are subject to this disease. 
It seems to be a natural outlet for excess of nutriment or humour; 
and where a dog has once laboured under the disease, he is very 
subject to a return of it. The fatal power of habit is in few' 
cases more evident than here. When a dog has symptoms of 
mange, the redness or eruption of the skin generally will not un- 
frequently disappear, and bad canker will speedily follow. I have 
sometimes considered canker, and I think not improperly, as 
