CHAPTER XXV. 



OrERA^TIONS. 



I. ANESTHETICS, AND HOW TO USE THEU. 1.. BANDAGES. III. BLEEDING 



IV. BLJSTEUING. V. CASTING. VI. CASTRATION. VII. EXTIRPATION OF 



THE EVE. VIII. FIRING. IX. LITHOTOMY. X. LITHOTRITY. XI. NEU- 

 ROTOMY. XII. NICKING AND DOCKING. XIII. OPENING AN ABSCESS. XIV. 



TAPPING THE CHEST, AND TAPPING THE ABDOMEN. XV. PRICKING. XVI. 



PROBING AND OPENING A FISTULA. XVII. SPAYING. XVIII. SUTURES. XIX. 



TAPPING THE BELLY FOR FLATULENCE. XX. TENOTOMY. XXI. TRACHE- 

 OTOMY. 



In this chapter we shall descrilje all of the more common surgical oper- 

 ations on the horse. Some of these can be performed by any intelligent 

 person, who will exercise a reasonable amount of care and prudence, 

 with ready reserve resource to fall back on in case of accident. The lat- 

 ter, in fact, is a very necessary qualilication in any operator ; for acci- 

 dents may happen, and result disastrously, in the most skillful hands. Ai 

 the same time, many valuable expedients may be resorted to, in cases of 

 this kind, wliich It is absolutely impossible to prescribe by set rules before- 

 hand. Here, quick-witted common sense must be the main reliance of 

 all practitioners alike. 



I. Anaesthetics, and How to Use Them. 



Anaesthetics are drugs or agents that destroy feeling. They take away 

 all sensation, and all power of voluntary action ; and they sometimes 

 cause death, by suffocation, or suspension of the involuntary actions of the 

 body, if they are given too fast, or their use is carried too far. Hence, they 

 should never be administered by inexperienced or unskillful hands. The 

 principal agents of this class employed in veterinary practice are chloro- 

 form and sulphuric ether ; chloral hydrate is often used as an anodvne, 

 but not as an anaesthetic. 



The animal is usually cast, legs tied, and, when everything has been 

 prepared for the operation, a large sponge, saturated with chloroform or 

 ether, is held to the nose, beingre-wet every little while, as long as maybe 

 necessary. The nose is sometimes enclosed in a bag, so as to confine the 

 fumes, ]>ut it is better not to do this. The risk thus run vastly outweighs 

 the few advantages it offers. If sufficient air is mixed with the anaesthetic, 

 there is no danger, but horses usually struggle very severly during the 

 exciting stage, — just before they go under its influence, and, on that ac- 

 count the method mentioned is not considered safe by many of the best 



authorities, 



547 



