FISTULOUS WITHERS, ETC. 
879 
mare, weight, 900 pounds ; 8 years old. Had been used for gen¬ 
eral farm and road work. About August 1, 1898, a hard round 
tumor was noticed on the left side of the neck, just anterior to 
the withers. The condition of this tumor remained unchanged 
till April 1, 1899, when it became enlarged, very tender and 
fluctuating. The tumor was subsequently twice operated upon 
by the local veterinarian, and before the incisions had healed 
the withers became greatly swollen. When presented at this 
clinic, the region of the withers was enormously thickened, 
very tender, and discharging from an open wound on the left 
side, anterior to the withers. Tubes of bouillon and agar were 
inoculated from the open wound and from the lymph like ma¬ 
terial discharged when the enlarged withers were incised. 
Those from the open wound developed into cultures from which 
were isolated a streptococcus, and a white micrococcus.* Sev¬ 
eral of the tubes inoculated from the closed abscesses remained 
sterile for a long time, but others finally developed into cultures 
of streptococci. 
Case II .—Clinic case 2138, Dec. 2, 1899. Patient was an 
aged bay mare, weight 950 lbs., reported to have been at one 
time a runner. There is at present one fistula opening on the 
right side of the neck, and another opening a few inches poste¬ 
rior to this one. This condition has existed for three years and 
during that time various methods of treatment have been em- 
ployed without success. 
Both fistulse were freely incised, making a very extensive 
• wound in the posterior cervical region. There was a great 
amount of old cicatricial tissue of a very dense nature in the 
wound. At places it was calcareous and very hard to cut. 
Some pieces were removed aseptically for the purpose of exam¬ 
ination and study. Tubes of bouillon and agar were inoculated 
with the pus discharging from the wounds prior to operation 
and at different times afterward. A streptococcus and a white 
micrococcus were isolated each time. 
Case III —Clinic No. 2228, Jan. 25, 1900. Patient a bay 
horse, weight 1000 lbs., 6 years old ; has been used of late in 
quite heavy draft, hauling logs. About sixteen days ago the 
owner noticed a swelling, five by ten inches in diameter, in the 
* In giving the results of the bacteriological examination of the following cases, we 
have followed Migula’s classification of bacteria, in which any spherical organism dividing 
in more than one plane is classed as a micrococcus. Hence, the white and yellow mi¬ 
crococci we mention may be considered synonymous with staphylococcus albus and 
staphylococcus aureus of other writers. 
