ANOTHER CASE OF MELANOSIS. 
333 
used him as his private gig horse, and during that time the disease 
made its appearance; on which account it was that the present 
proprietor became his purchaser. He, not liking his unsightly ap¬ 
pearance, wished me to use my endeavour to restore him to his 
wonted genteel appearance. 
Examination .—Beginning at the tail, there protrudes from its 
root two large masses, each of the size of a man’s double fist, 
which partly protrude over the anus, and appear to be perfect 
melanotic deposit. The whole length of the under part of the tail 
is studded with tumours of the same character, but small, and of 
variable size, and hard and unyielding ; the whole possessing the 
melanotic appearance so common to the part. Passing from 
this part to the sheath of the horse, here again the disease 
shews itself in a very marked form. Both outwardly and in¬ 
wardly it is thickly set with small tumours of the same appear¬ 
ance. Passing thence to the sternum, a little superior to it, there 
is a tumour the size of a hen’s egg, which I pronounced to be me¬ 
lanotic (perhaps wrongly), but which my young friend tried strongly 
to refute, saying, it had been there for two or three years; but this 
did not shake my opinion, especially as I knew how little such 
men know of the diseases of the lower animals. There is another 
tumour further up the neck; but of it I could not speak so decid¬ 
edly, it being near the bleeding place, though this also looks very 
suspicious. The horse has a little difficulty in voiding both his 
dung and urine; otherwise he appears in excellent health and 
spirits, and in tip-top condition. He performs his journeys well, 
and is very troublesome to ride in company with another horse. 
Now, after viewing the animal, and taking into consideration 
the case of the old grey mare, I told the young man that the case 
was a difficult if not a hopeless one, and that, from certain reasons 
which I pointed out, I declined performing part of an operation, 
which, to say the best, was only going to be part, as I considered 
it to be wholly inexpedient to excise the tumours around the anus, 
or free the sheath from the numerous appendages attached to it. 
But still, the owner said, the large tumours might be partly excised, 
so as to give the tail a more genteel appearance. To which I an¬ 
swered, “ If only partly, why not let them alone altogether, seeing 
the horse was apparently doing so well, rather than partly ope¬ 
rate, and run the risk of doing a great deal more harm than good]” 
So I advised him to return home and satisfy himself with the case; 
if not, to seek advice from some higher power. I make no doubt 
I could easily have excised the two large tumours, and benefitted 
the horse in appearance, perhaps, for a short time. This would 
have been an experiment. But if it had not succeeded—and there 
is nothing in the case, so far as I can judge, to warrant success— 
