CRACKED HEELS 423 



and the animal declines to impose weight on the affected limb. Passive 

 movement of the knee occasions considerable pain, and should the joint be 

 opened the wound discharges a yellowish, transparent, glairy Huid, which 

 later on coagulates over the orifice in the joint into a soft jelly-like sub- 

 stance. A considerable amount of swelling invariably results when the 

 articulation is injured, and the patient seldom escapes without more or less 

 permanent enlargement or stiffness of the injured joint. 



Treatment. — A clean stable is the first requirement of animals suffer- 

 ing from wounds. This j^rovided, the part must be thoroughly cleansed 

 from all dirt by means of warm carbolized water. It should then be care- 

 fully probed to determine its depth and the structures injured, and to 

 discover and remove any grit or other foreign matter that may exist in it. 

 Should it be found that the joint is implicated, the patient should be put 

 into slings. The wound should then be prepared and freely dressed with 

 a solution of carbolic acid and covered with a thick pad of absorbent wool, 

 and secured by a clean flannel bandage. Both the wool and the bandage 

 should be well baked before being used. The dressing will require to 

 be renewed morning and evening for the first two days. Afterwards the 

 renewal will only require to be made once daily. The patient should 

 receive a mild dose of physic, and be placed on a light diet, including a 

 liberal allowance of green meat or roots. 



If the tendons are torn, as they sometimes are, the loose shreds must be 

 carefully removed close up to the body of the tendon by means of suitable 

 scissors. In slighter injuries of the knee the horse may be put on the pillar 

 reins, and prevented from lying down, while the wounds are dressed as 

 prescribed. 



When bruising of the parts is very extensive and swelling considerable, 

 bandages well wrung out in hot water may be applied over the dressing for 

 two or three hours after the accident, and repeated if necessary. Where 

 the wound in the knee has been considerable, the parts should be allowed 

 to undergo complete repair before the patient is allowed to lie down, or the 

 uniting structures may be forced apart, and the wound again laid open. 



CRACKED HEELS 



By cracked heel is understood a crack or breach in the skin of the heel. 

 It is to all intents and purposes a wound, but owing to its peculiar posi- 

 tion it requires to be specially considered. Wounds of the skin are not as 

 a rule difficult to deal with; but when they occur in parts of the body 

 where movement is constantly going on, the healing process is always more 

 or less delayed, and sometimes rendered difficult to effect. 



