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Contagious Warty Tumours in Dogs
CLINICAL ARTICLES.
some disturbed breathing about four or five hours afterwards, the animal showed no untoward symptoms. \Vire sutures were used, as in Case 7, and removed on the succeeding day.
CONTAGIOUS WARTY TUMOURS IN DOGS.
By]. PENBERTHY, F.R.C.V.S., Royal Veterinary College, London. ON 29th March 1898 I received a communication from Mr Peter Irving, M.R.C.V.S., of Chipping Norton, concerning a foxhound ,. affected with fungous growths on the lips, roof of mouth, and tongue, extending as far as can be seen towards the larynx." The tumours were so numerous that Mr Irving deemed the case almost hopeless. Having had previous experience with a similar condition, I wrote advising that the disease should be treated as contagious, and suggesting that the dog in question should be sent to the College for inspection and treatment. The owner, Mr Albert Brassey, M.P., M.F.H., readily consented, and on 2nd April two hound puppies, a dog and a bitch, were admitted to the Royal Veterinary College Infirmary. On examination the dog showed all signs of good general health and condition. The lips, tongue (particularly the dorsum), palate, and pharynx were literally studded with warts. The growths were mostly discrete and fairly uniform in size and shape, perhaps smaller and more numerous on the lips, rather paler than the buccal mucous membrane, and apparently covered by a dense layer of epithelium. There was no hcemorrhage or sign of ulceration. On the skin of both cheeks were a few similar growths. The bitch appeared to be recovering from distemper and was rather thin, otherwise her general health seemed satisfat;tory. Similar growths, though not quite so numerous, existed in the same situations as in the dog. and in addition one was present on the right flank. Both animals were then subjected to the same treatment, consisting in the internal administration of two-and-a-half grains of iodide of potassium in milk daily, and gargling mouth and pharynx with a solution of boracic acid, five grains to the ounce of water, twice daily. Every other day the warts were painted with a solution of iodine one part, water six parts. On the 5th of April some of the warts on the lips were snipped off with dressing scissors, but on account of profuse hccmorrhage this could not be far proceeded with. On the 6th of April I received telegrams from 1\1:r Brassey and Mr Irving stating that four more hounds were affected, and asking me to visit the kennels at Chipping Norton on the following day. Having made arrangements to leave on that day for Madrid, I replied that this was impossible, and advised carrying out the treatment on the lines originally suggested. On my return from Spain on the 19th of April I found the dog in much the same condition as when I last saw him on the 6th of April, though I received the impression that the warts were not quite so large. I learnt that for some cjays preceding the dog had received internally ten grain doses of calcined magnesia, a drug extolled by some Continental writers. This was immediately discontinued and the original treatment again
CLINICAL ARTICLES.
resorted to. The bitch had now recovered her general health, and her tumours were appreciably smaller. The treatment was continued till 20th May, the warts in dog and bitch gradually disappearing in much the same manner as similar growths on the human hand are usually observed to do. By the first week in June all traces of their existence had disappeared, and it is interesting and possibly instructive to note that at the Puppy Show in August our patients took first prize for the" best couple." Though clinical observation, especially of a similar set of cases met with two years previously, had convinced me of the contagious nature of these growths, and led me to write immediately to Mr Irving suggesting treatment as of a contagious affection, I felt the desirability of testing the effect of inoculation, but between the date of admission and my departure for Madrid my endeavours to find a suitable subject for the experiment were unsuccessful. Twenty couple of hound puppies, dogs and bitches, the majority of which had been walked" singly or in couples by different individuals in the Heythrop Country, were kennelled together, and separate from the bitch and dog packs of working hounds. The first affected were the dog and bitch sent to the College on 2nd A pri!. The huntsman had observed warts in their mouths, and, separating them from the other puppies, had been treating them a fortnight before Messrs Irving and Stephenson were consulted on 29th March. It is worthy of special remark that these two puppies had been" walked" by the same individual at the same place, and had been two months at the kennels before anything was noticed. Mr Irving writes to say that previous to hearing from me on :3 1st March no treatment was adopted. On the 6th of A pril four more cases were reported. On the 18th of April it was reported that nine-and-a-half couples had been affected; on the 25th April ten-and-a-half couples; on the 8th of May thirteen-and-a-half couples; and on the 17th of June eighteen-and-a-half couples. Though in some patients the warts were much more numerous than in others, in no case were they so numerous as in the first two, while in the latter only a few appeared. Three puppies only of the twenty couples escaped. The general health of all remained throughout apparently good. The disease was confined to the puppies in the one kennel. As far as I can gather, nothing of the kind had ever before been observed in the kennels of this hunt. The mouths of the puppies were examined daily, with due observance of strict precautions against contagion, and, on the earliest appearance of any suspicious symptom, placed under the treatment before described. Mr Irving wrote me, saying: "Some of the earliest cases were very bad, others that were treated directly it was noticed had it but slightly." On my visit to the kennels on 26th April I found the cases then existing of precisely the same nature, but the growths much less profuse and generally smaller, while nothing could be more admirable than the arrangement for the treatment of the healthy and affected. It has frequently been observed that similar growths, especially on the human hand, disappear without any treatment being specially directed to them. It is very difficult in these cases under consideration to say whether or not their disappearance was in any way related to the treatment adopted. It may be that the growths ,I
ABSTRACTS.
would have disappeared spontaneously. It may be that some circumstances, intrinsic (as advancing age), or extrinsic, acting on the animals will account for the comparative mildness of the later cases. l Irrespective of recent clinical and experimental investigations, the idea of the contagious or infective quality of warty growths cannot be entirely new. It was a common saying among schoolboys in my early days, "if you make the warts on your hands bleed you will be sure to have warts where the blood goes." The etiology of neoplasms is a subject of great interest and importance. Clinical observations such as the foregoing contribute something to the view that some at least possess infective properties; and this is amply verified by the results of the experiments contributed by Professors M'Fadyean and Hobday (see p. 341).
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THE RINDERPEST IN SOUTH AFRICA. 2 PROFESSOR KOCH proved that the serum of cattle which had recovered from an attack of rinderpest, when injected under the skin of healthy cattle, protected them from the poison of rinderpest for a short time. He also proved that a mixture of 99 parts of this serum with one part of rinderpest blood, when injected in a series of doses of 20 cc. into healthy cattle, gradually increased this immunity to a very great extent; but on discovering the immunising power of bile he abandoned further work on the serum treatment, as it appeared too troublesome when it came to be applied to large numbers of cattle, and also at that time to be inferior to the bile treatment on account of the impossibility of obtaining sufficient "salted" cattle from which to obtain a supply of serum equal to the demand. The disease was spreading at such an alarming rate that it was imperative that some form of treatment should be applied capable of keeping pace with the spread of the infection. Consequently, although the bile treatment was expensive from the number of cattle required to be sacrificed for its material, it was necessary to continue it for the time being, and there is now no doubt that it was instrumental in saving many thousands of head of cattle, and at the same time in checking the progress of the disease into un infected areas to a very considerable extent. As time wore on it was found that cattle which had been rendered immune with bile after periods varying from three to six months lost their resisting power, and in many instances succumbed to fresh attacks of the disease. Whilst this race between the spread of the infection and the attempts, more or less successful, to get ahead of it with bile inoculation was going on, Dr Kolle and Dr Turner were persevering in their scientific experiments tf) bring the serum treatment to perfection. Cattle which had recovered from the disease were gradually collected, and a stock of antitoxic serum was in this 1 Pertaining to this natural tendency of the growths to disappear, as well as regarding the existence elsewhere of the same or similar conditions among puppies, it may be interesting to remark that the late Huntsman of the Heythrop, who, in forty years' experience among houmls, had never met with anything of the kind before, on visiting a friend in the Vale of ·White Horse, found" the same thing amongst their puppies." He states" they do not attach much importance to it, but simply wash their mouths with soda water." This coincides with my former and present experience that it is most commonly observed in puppies. 2 From an article by Dr l\Iaberly in the Lancet, 5th November 18!JS.
some disturbed breathing about four or five hours afterwards, the animal showed no untoward symptoms. \Vire sutures were used, as in Case 7, and removed on the succeeding day.
CONTAGIOUS WARTY TUMOURS IN DOGS.
By]. PENBERTHY, F.R.C.V.S., Royal Veterinary College, London. ON 29th March 1898 I received a communication from Mr Peter Irving, M.R.C.V.S., of Chipping Norton, concerning a foxhound ,. affected with fungous growths on the lips, roof of mouth, and tongue, extending as far as can be seen towards the larynx." The tumours were so numerous that Mr Irving deemed the case almost hopeless. Having had previous experience with a similar condition, I wrote advising that the disease should be treated as contagious, and suggesting that the dog in question should be sent to the College for inspection and treatment. The owner, Mr Albert Brassey, M.P., M.F.H., readily consented, and on 2nd April two hound puppies, a dog and a bitch, were admitted to the Royal Veterinary College Infirmary. On examination the dog showed all signs of good general health and condition. The lips, tongue (particularly the dorsum), palate, and pharynx were literally studded with warts. The growths were mostly discrete and fairly uniform in size and shape, perhaps smaller and more numerous on the lips, rather paler than the buccal mucous membrane, and apparently covered by a dense layer of epithelium. There was no hcemorrhage or sign of ulceration. On the skin of both cheeks were a few similar growths. The bitch appeared to be recovering from distemper and was rather thin, otherwise her general health seemed satisfat;tory. Similar growths, though not quite so numerous, existed in the same situations as in the dog. and in addition one was present on the right flank. Both animals were then subjected to the same treatment, consisting in the internal administration of two-and-a-half grains of iodide of potassium in milk daily, and gargling mouth and pharynx with a solution of boracic acid, five grains to the ounce of water, twice daily. Every other day the warts were painted with a solution of iodine one part, water six parts. On the 5th of April some of the warts on the lips were snipped off with dressing scissors, but on account of profuse hccmorrhage this could not be far proceeded with. On the 6th of April I received telegrams from 1\1:r Brassey and Mr Irving stating that four more hounds were affected, and asking me to visit the kennels at Chipping Norton on the following day. Having made arrangements to leave on that day for Madrid, I replied that this was impossible, and advised carrying out the treatment on the lines originally suggested. On my return from Spain on the 19th of April I found the dog in much the same condition as when I last saw him on the 6th of April, though I received the impression that the warts were not quite so large. I learnt that for some cjays preceding the dog had received internally ten grain doses of calcined magnesia, a drug extolled by some Continental writers. This was immediately discontinued and the original treatment again
CLINICAL ARTICLES.
resorted to. The bitch had now recovered her general health, and her tumours were appreciably smaller. The treatment was continued till 20th May, the warts in dog and bitch gradually disappearing in much the same manner as similar growths on the human hand are usually observed to do. By the first week in June all traces of their existence had disappeared, and it is interesting and possibly instructive to note that at the Puppy Show in August our patients took first prize for the" best couple." Though clinical observation, especially of a similar set of cases met with two years previously, had convinced me of the contagious nature of these growths, and led me to write immediately to Mr Irving suggesting treatment as of a contagious affection, I felt the desirability of testing the effect of inoculation, but between the date of admission and my departure for Madrid my endeavours to find a suitable subject for the experiment were unsuccessful. Twenty couple of hound puppies, dogs and bitches, the majority of which had been walked" singly or in couples by different individuals in the Heythrop Country, were kennelled together, and separate from the bitch and dog packs of working hounds. The first affected were the dog and bitch sent to the College on 2nd A pri!. The huntsman had observed warts in their mouths, and, separating them from the other puppies, had been treating them a fortnight before Messrs Irving and Stephenson were consulted on 29th March. It is worthy of special remark that these two puppies had been" walked" by the same individual at the same place, and had been two months at the kennels before anything was noticed. Mr Irving writes to say that previous to hearing from me on :3 1st March no treatment was adopted. On the 6th of A pril four more cases were reported. On the 18th of April it was reported that nine-and-a-half couples had been affected; on the 25th April ten-and-a-half couples; on the 8th of May thirteen-and-a-half couples; and on the 17th of June eighteen-and-a-half couples. Though in some patients the warts were much more numerous than in others, in no case were they so numerous as in the first two, while in the latter only a few appeared. Three puppies only of the twenty couples escaped. The general health of all remained throughout apparently good. The disease was confined to the puppies in the one kennel. As far as I can gather, nothing of the kind had ever before been observed in the kennels of this hunt. The mouths of the puppies were examined daily, with due observance of strict precautions against contagion, and, on the earliest appearance of any suspicious symptom, placed under the treatment before described. Mr Irving wrote me, saying: "Some of the earliest cases were very bad, others that were treated directly it was noticed had it but slightly." On my visit to the kennels on 26th April I found the cases then existing of precisely the same nature, but the growths much less profuse and generally smaller, while nothing could be more admirable than the arrangement for the treatment of the healthy and affected. It has frequently been observed that similar growths, especially on the human hand, disappear without any treatment being specially directed to them. It is very difficult in these cases under consideration to say whether or not their disappearance was in any way related to the treatment adopted. It may be that the growths ,I
ABSTRACTS.
would have disappeared spontaneously. It may be that some circumstances, intrinsic (as advancing age), or extrinsic, acting on the animals will account for the comparative mildness of the later cases. l Irrespective of recent clinical and experimental investigations, the idea of the contagious or infective quality of warty growths cannot be entirely new. It was a common saying among schoolboys in my early days, "if you make the warts on your hands bleed you will be sure to have warts where the blood goes." The etiology of neoplasms is a subject of great interest and importance. Clinical observations such as the foregoing contribute something to the view that some at least possess infective properties; and this is amply verified by the results of the experiments contributed by Professors M'Fadyean and Hobday (see p. 341).
--0--
THE RINDERPEST IN SOUTH AFRICA. 2 PROFESSOR KOCH proved that the serum of cattle which had recovered from an attack of rinderpest, when injected under the skin of healthy cattle, protected them from the poison of rinderpest for a short time. He also proved that a mixture of 99 parts of this serum with one part of rinderpest blood, when injected in a series of doses of 20 cc. into healthy cattle, gradually increased this immunity to a very great extent; but on discovering the immunising power of bile he abandoned further work on the serum treatment, as it appeared too troublesome when it came to be applied to large numbers of cattle, and also at that time to be inferior to the bile treatment on account of the impossibility of obtaining sufficient "salted" cattle from which to obtain a supply of serum equal to the demand. The disease was spreading at such an alarming rate that it was imperative that some form of treatment should be applied capable of keeping pace with the spread of the infection. Consequently, although the bile treatment was expensive from the number of cattle required to be sacrificed for its material, it was necessary to continue it for the time being, and there is now no doubt that it was instrumental in saving many thousands of head of cattle, and at the same time in checking the progress of the disease into un infected areas to a very considerable extent. As time wore on it was found that cattle which had been rendered immune with bile after periods varying from three to six months lost their resisting power, and in many instances succumbed to fresh attacks of the disease. Whilst this race between the spread of the infection and the attempts, more or less successful, to get ahead of it with bile inoculation was going on, Dr Kolle and Dr Turner were persevering in their scientific experiments tf) bring the serum treatment to perfection. Cattle which had recovered from the disease were gradually collected, and a stock of antitoxic serum was in this 1 Pertaining to this natural tendency of the growths to disappear, as well as regarding the existence elsewhere of the same or similar conditions among puppies, it may be interesting to remark that the late Huntsman of the Heythrop, who, in forty years' experience among houmls, had never met with anything of the kind before, on visiting a friend in the Vale of ·White Horse, found" the same thing amongst their puppies." He states" they do not attach much importance to it, but simply wash their mouths with soda water." This coincides with my former and present experience that it is most commonly observed in puppies. 2 From an article by Dr l\Iaberly in the Lancet, 5th November 18!JS.