Book VII. VETERINARY OPERATIONS. 921 



mulus of the external air, are seldom disposed to unite at once, or, as it is called in surgical language, 

 by the first intention. It is always, therefore, necessary to expect the suppurative process : but as 

 the adhesive inflammation does now and then occur, we should never wash with water or other 

 liquids a mere laceration, if no foreign matter, as dirt, &c., be suspected to be lodged within it, still less 

 should we stuff it with candle or tents of any kind. On the contrary, it should be carefully and smoothly 

 brought together, and simply bound up in its own blood ; and if it do not wholly unite at once, and 

 by the first intention, perhaps some portion of it may ; and, at all events, its future progress will be more 

 natural, and the disfiguration less than when stuffed with tents, tow, &c., or irritated with heating oils or 

 spirits. When an extensively lacerated wound takes place, it is common, and it is often necessary to 

 insert sutures, or stitches, into the lips of the wound : and here we have to notice another considerable 

 variation from the principles of human inflammation, which is, that these stitches in the horse, ox, 

 and dog, soon ulcerate out, seldom remaining longer than the third or fourth day at farthest. It 

 therefore is the more necessary to be careful, that by perfect rest, and the appropriation of good 

 bandages, we secure the wound from distortion. In this we may be assisted by strips of sticking 

 plaster, made with diachylon and pitch : but these strips should be guarded from touching the 

 wound itself by means of lint or tow first put over it. When, in addition to laceration in a wound, 

 there is a destruction of substance, then the caution of washing will not apply, as it will be necessary to 

 bathe with some warming spirit, as, tincture of myrrh, tincture of aloes, or friars' balsam, to assist in 

 restoring the life of the part, and in preventing mortification. Bleeding must be stopped by pressure 

 and astringents, as powdered alum : when it is very considerable, the vessel from whence the blood 

 comes must be taken up. When great inflammation follows wounds or bruises, counteract it by bleeding, 

 a cooling temperature, opening medicines, and continual fomentations to the part itself. 



SuBSECT. 2. Balls ^and Drinks. 



5863. Mode of giving a ball. Back the horse in his stall, and being elevated on a stool, (not a bucket 

 turned up side down,) gently draw the tongue a little out of the mouth, so as to prevent its rising to resist 

 the passage of the hand: the tongue should however not be laid hold of atone, but it should be held 

 firmly by the fingers of the left hand against the jaw. The ball previously oiled, being taken into the 

 right hand, which should be squeezed into as narrow a shape as possible, must be passed up close to the 

 roof of the mouth, and the ball placed on the root of the tongue, when both hands being withdrawn, it 

 will readily pass down. This mode is much preferable, when a person is at all handy, to using a balling 

 iron. At Long's, veterinary surgeons' instrument maker, is sold a clever machine for this purpose. 



5864. Mode of giving a dririk. Exactly the same process is pursued, except that a horn holding the 

 liquid matter is forced up the mouth ; the passage being raised beyond the level line, the liquid is poured 

 out from the larger end of the horn, and when the tongue is loosened it is swallowed. Clark, however, 

 ingeniously proposes to substitute the smaller end of the horn, the larger being closed, by which, he says, 

 the horn can be forced up the mouth between the teeth, and poured farther back so as to ensure its not 

 returning. 



SuBSECT. 3. Fomentations and Poultices, 



5865. Fomentations are very commonly recommended of various herbs, as ruej chamomile, St. John'9 

 wort, wormwood, bay leaves, &c. ; but the principal virtue is to be found in warmth and moisture, which 

 unload the vessels : but this warmth ought not to be too considerable, except when the inflammation is 

 within, as in inflamed bowels. Here we foment to stimulate the skin, and cannot foment too hot : but 

 when we do it at once to an inflamed part, it ought not to be more than of blood heat ; and it should 

 be continued long, and when removed the part should be dried or covered, or cold may be taken, and 

 the inflammation increased instead of diminished. Anodyne fomentations are made of poppy heads, and 

 of tobacco, and are frequently of great use. 



5866. The metltod of applying fomentations is conveniently done by means of two large woollen cloths 

 wrung out of the heated liquors ; as one is cooling the other should be ready to be applied. 



5867. Poultices act in the same way as fomentations in allaying irritation and inflammation ; but are in 

 some respects more convenient, because they act continually. It is an error to suppose that poultices, 

 to be beneficial, should be very hot : however hot they may be applied, they soon become of the tem- 

 perature of the surrounding parts. When poultices are applied to the extremities, a stocking, as has 

 been before stated, is a convenient (method of application. When it is drawn over the leg and bound 

 around the lower part of the hoof, or of the paslern, or otherwise, the matter of the poultice may be 

 I)Ut within, and it maybe.then kept in its situation, if high up on the extremity, by means of tape 

 fastened to one part of it, and passed over the withers or back to the other side, and again fastened 

 to the stocking. In this way, also, loose bandages maybe retained from slipping down. Cold poultices 

 are often useful in the inflammations arising from strains, &c. In these cases bran and goulard water 

 form a convenient medium : but when the poultice is necessarily hot, a little linseed meal added to the 

 bran will render it adhesive, and give it consistence. It is a very necessary caution in this, as in every 

 instance where bandages are wanted around the extremities, to have them broad, and only so tight as to 

 secure the matters contained, as in a poultice, or as in common bandaging. It is often supposed that 

 *' as strong as a horse," denotes that nothing can be too strong for him, nor any means too violent", 

 to hurt him. The horse, on the contrary, is one of the most tender animals alive j and a string tied 

 very tight round the leg would occasion, first a falling off of the hoof, next a mortification of the 

 rest of the limb, and lastly the death of the animal; and all this as certainly as though he were shot 

 with a- bullet through the head. 



SuBSECT. 4. Setons and Rowels. 



5868. Setons are often useful in keeping up a drain to draw what are termed humors from parts ; or 

 by their irritations on one part, they lessen the inflammation in another part not very remote, as when 

 applied in the cheek for ophthalmia or inflamed eyes. They also in ;the same way lessen old. swellings 

 by exciting absorption. Another useful action they have is to make a dependent or convenient orifice for 

 the escape of lodged matter : thus a .'.eton passed from the upper part of the opening of pole evil, through 

 the upper part of the integuments of the neck, as low as the sinuses run, will often effect a cure without 

 farther application. The same with fistulous withers, which sometimes run under the shoulder blade, 

 and appear at the arm point ; in which cases a blunt seton needle, of sufficient length to be passed down 

 to that point, and to be then cut down upon, will form the only efficient mode of treatment. Setons may 

 be passed in domestic farrierv, with a common packing needle and a skain of thread, or piece of tape : 

 but in professional farriery they are made by a proper needle armed with tape or lamp cotton, or skain* 

 of thread or silk smeared over with digestive ointment. When the seton needle is removed, the ends 

 of the tape should be joined together, or otherwise knotted, to prevent them from coming out. 



5869. Rowels in their intention act as setons, and as irritating a larger surface, so when a general drain 

 is required they act better ; as in grease, &c. : but when their action is confined to a part only, setons 

 are more convenient. Anv person may apply a rowel by making an incision in the loose skin about 

 an inch, separating with the finger its adherences around, and then inserting in the opening a piece ot 

 round leather with a hole in the middle smeared with a blistering ointment. Then plug the opening 

 with tow, and in three days, when the suppuration has begun, remove it. The rowel leather is afterwarda 

 to be daily moved and cleaned. 



