SPLENTS. 53 



ounces of the strongest mercurial ointment, 

 and let the size of a hazle nut be well rub- 

 bed in upon the part affected, every night 

 and morning, till the whole is consumed, 

 using the roller each night, and taking it off 

 in the morning. If this does not succeed, 

 the best and most speedy method will be the 

 immediate extirpation, by making a longitu- 

 dinal incision {" without bruising, harrDner-' 

 ing/' &c.) through the integuments, dissect- 

 ing and extracting the substance, complet- 

 ing the cure by taking up a couple of 

 stitches, and treating it as a superficial 

 wound : for which directioias will be found 

 under that head. 



Notwithstanding the variety of opinions in- 

 culcated, and instructions laid down, to ob- 

 tain a radical cure, it becomes a matter of 

 doubt, whether a little deliberation, previous 

 to a rash execution, may not prove the most 

 useful monitor of the two; that is, if the 

 splent is not productive of lameness or dis- 

 quietude, forming no inconvenience but an 

 external appearance, whether it may not be 

 most advisable (at any rate most prudent) to 

 let it remain in its pacific state of inactivity, 

 , rather than provoke it to a certain degree of 



