impoverished skin.

_Treatment._--When they are small and pedunculated, they may be snipped off
with shears and the stump touched with nitrate of silver. When they are
broad and flattened, they may be dissected out and the wound cauterized if
necessary. If they are large and very vascular, they may be ligated, one by
one, by taking a strong cord and tying it as firmly around the base as
possible. They will then shrivel, die, and drop off. If there is a tendency
to grow again, apply a red-hot iron or nitric acid with a glass rod. Very
often warts quickly disappear if they are kept soft by daily applications
of sweet or olive oil.

KELIS.

Kelis is an irregularly shaped flat tumor of the skin, resulting from
hypertrophy--increased growth of the fibrous tissue of the corium,
producing absorption of the papillary layer.

_Causes._--It may arise spontaneously or follow a scar after an injury.

_Symptoms._--Kelis generally appears below the knee or hock, and may occur
singly or in numbers. There are no constitutional symptoms. Its growth is
very slow and seldom causes any inconvenience. It appears as a flattened,
irregular, or spreading growth within the substance of the skin, is hard to
the touch, and is especially characterized by divergent branches or roots,
resembling the claws of a crab; hence the name. Occasionally some part of
it may soften and result in an abscess. It may grow several inches in
length and encircle the whole limb.

_Treatment._--So long as it causes the animal no inconvenience it is best
not to meddle with it; when it does the animal ought to be fattened for
beef, the meat being perfectly harmless to the consumer.

PARASITIC DISEASES OF THE SKIN.

RINGWORM (TINEA TONSURANS AND TINEA FAVOSA).

Ringworm is an affection of the skin, caused by a vegetable parasite.

The form known as tinea tonsurans is produced by the presence of a minute
or microscopic fungus--the _Trichophyton tonsurans_, which affects the hair
and the epidermic layer of the skin, and is highly contagious, being
readily transmitted from one animal to another. This fungus consists of
spores and filaments. The spores, being the most numerous, are round and
seldom vary much in size. They are very abundant in the hair follicle. The
filaments are articulated, waving, and contain granules. This disease is
productive of changes in the root and shaft of the hair, rendering it
brittle and easily broken off.

This disease becomes m