CHAPTER VIII 



SURGICAL CASES 



FOR convenience to the stockman and horseman, 

 it may be well to bring together in one chapter the 

 various diseases and practices that demand more or 

 less of surgical treatment. These subjects are of three 

 rather distinct categories: mere wounds; diseases and 

 malformations; practices (as caponizing and dehorn- 

 ing) that are dictated by the desire of the owner. 



INFLAMMATION 



It is first necessary to discuss the general subject 

 of inflammation, since an understanding of it is essen- 

 tial to all good surgical work. 



Inflammation is a curative process employed by 

 nature to repair injuries or to overcome disease. It 

 is always the result of irritation of some kind, the 

 bruising of the cells, or the presence of foreign bodies, 

 as germs, or other irritating substances in the living 

 tissues. The process of inflammation is nature's means 

 of fighting the irritant. In many cases, the cause of 

 the inflammation is easily recognizable, in others it is 

 obscure. Inflammation occurs in either an acute or a 

 chronic form. In the former, all the symptoms are 

 well marked; in the latter, the symptoms are not so 



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