123 
WHAT ELSE IS IT, BUT VILLAINY? 
gray mare, 6 years old, in good condition, with a swelling of the parotid 
region; this was soft, extending all round the throat, slightly forward in 
the intermaxillary space, not painful ; being pushed from side to side a 
liquid was heard flabbing against the sides—a slight purulent discharge 
existed on the off nostril; on that side of the gland, at the lower ex¬ 
tremity, there was a fistulous tract, running upwards and through which, 
by means of a canula, a small quantity of pus was collected. Appetite 
is good; general appearance satisfactory. The mare has been in that 
condition for some time, after a catarrhal affection. 
The diagnosis was made of collection of pus in the pouches, and 
I left word that in the afternoon 1 would return and operate. With 
that intention, about 2 o’clock p. m., I was near the patient again, where, 
during examination, and through answers to my inquiries, I was told 
that “ she had been lanced already three or four times before by the 
doctor.” Who was he ? Mr. X. Strange as this may appear—though 
I knew of that gentleman attending to that stable—the case had proved 
of such interest to me that I never thought for a moment to inquire who 
had had charge of her until that moment. I, of course, stopped at once 
all interference, declining to do any more unless Mr. X. was present.- 
We met afterwards, and without going into any more details, I will say 
that it was decided to operate on her on the 26th. Several members of 
the profession were present; also several students of the American Vet¬ 
erinary College. 
The mare being cast on her left side, Mr. X. made an attempt to 
puncture the pouch from below, which was unsuccessful, as the membrane 
would retire before the pressure of the trocar. It was then decided that I 
should perform the operation from above, through the occipito-hyoideus 
muscle. Without describing the operation, with which we are all fami¬ 
liar, I will say that, without difficulty, we introduced the trocar into the 
cavity, and pushing it downwards below the bifurcation of the jugular, 
a seton was introduced from below upward ; having no tape ready at 
hand, a white ha7idkerchief handed to ??ie by one of the assistants was 
torn , and a long piece of it used instead for the seton. 
Leaving word to Mr. X. to change that temporary seton as soon as 
possible, I left the stable. When the animal was allowed to get up but 
very little pus flowed from the lower opening. From day to day, for 
some time, I visited the patient, and though there may have been some 
improvement in the condition of the throat of the mare for a few days, 
it soon returned to the same condition, so much, indeed, that I soon was 
