428 IOWA DEPARTMENT OP AGRICULTURE 
WOUNDS AND THEIB TREATMENT. 
Description of Wounds. — A wound is an injury to any part of the 
body involving a solution of continuity or disruption of the affected 
parts and is caused by violence, with or without laceration of the skin. 
In accordance with this definition we have the following varieties of 
wounds: Incised, punctured, contused, lacerated, gunshot, and poisoned. 
They may further be classified as superficial, deep, or penetrating, and 
also as unclean, if hair, dirt, or splinters of wood are present; as infected, 
when contaminated with germs; and as aseptic, if the wound does not 
contain germs. 
An incised wound is a simple cut made with a sharp body, like a 
knife, producing merely a division of the tissues. The duller the body, 
the more force is required, the more tissues destroyed, and a greater 
time will be required for healing. In a cut wound the edges are even 
and definite, while those of a lacerated wound are irregular and torn. 
Three conditions are present as a result of an incised wound: (1) Pain, 
(2) hemorrhage, (3) gaping of the wound. The first pain is due to the 
crushing of the nerve fibers. In using a sharp knife and by cutting 
quickly the animal suffers less pain and healing occurs more rapidly. 
The secondary pain is usually due to the action of the air 
and inflammatory processes. When air is kept from the wound 
pain ceases soon after the lesion is produced. Hemorrhage is absent only 
in wounds of nonvascular tissues, as the cornea of the eye, the cartilage 
of joints, and other similar structures. Bleeding may be from the arteries, 
veins, or capillaries. In the latter form of "bleeding the blood oozes from 
the part in drops. Hemorrhage from the veins is dark red and issues 
in a steady stream without spurting. In arterial bleeding the blood is 
bright red and spurts with each heart beat. This latter variety of 
hemorrhage is the most dangerous, and should be stopped at once be- 
fore attempting any further treatment. Bleeding from small veins and 
capillaries ceases in a short time spontaneously, while larger vessels, 
especially arteries, require some form of treatment to cause complete 
stoppage of the hemorrhage. 
HEMOSTASIA. 
By this term is meant the checking of the flow of blood. It may be 
accomplished by several methods, such as compress bandages, torison, 
hot iron, and ligatures. The heat from a hot iron will cause the imme- 
diate clotting of the blood in the vessels, and this clot is further supported 
by the production of a scab, or crust, over the portion seared. The iron 
should be at a red heat. If at a white heat, the tissue is charred, which 
makes it brittle and the bleeding is apt to be renewed. If the iron is at a 
black heat, the tissues will stick to the iron and will pull away from 
the surface of the wound. Cold w-ater and ice bags quickly stop capillary 
bleeding, while hot water is preferable in more excessive hemorrhages. 
Some drugs, called styptics, possess the power of contracting the walls 
of blood vessels and also of clotting the blood. A solution of the chloride 
of iron placed on a wound alone or by means of cotton drenched in the 
liquid produces a rapid and hard clot. Tannic acid, alum, acetic acid. 
