OPERATIONS. 



555 



OPENING THE ABSCESS OF STRANGLES. 

 Also illustrating the twitch and manner of using it. 



sary, in such a case, to nick the depressor muscles and keep him in pulleys 

 two or three weeks before docking him. If the knife is clean, there will 

 be no suppuration. 



Xni. Openingr an Abscess. 



This is a simple matter, when done properly. If improperly done, it 

 is of little use, and the cure is apt to be retarded. When an abscess is 



ripe and ready to open, ascer- 

 tain, as near as possible, where 

 the bottom of it is, and insert 

 tlie knife at that point, making 

 an opening quite to the bottom 

 for the escape of the pu?^. If 

 this is impracticable, and the 

 opening must be made at the 

 top, the pus must be evacuated 

 b}' means of a syringe or sponge, 

 to draw it out. The main point 

 to be remembered is to open 

 it as near to the bottom as 

 possible. A twitch on the nose is usually sufficient to keep the animal 

 quiet in this and other minor operations. 



XIV. Tapping the Chest and Tapping the Abdomen. 



The chest fills with water in h}'drothorax; it is the stage of effusion in 

 pleurisy. The lungs are floated up, and sufl'ocation results. The presence 

 of water in the chest is detected by the solid sound — a sound of fullness — - 

 when tapped with the hand, and by the 

 absence of respiratory murmur; and, fre- 

 quently, the splashing of the water by the 

 action of the heart can also be heard. 



Clip off the hair from a spot about three 

 inches ])ack of the elbow, and five or 

 six inches from the bottom of the chest. 

 Ascertain the exact location where a punc- 

 ture can be made without striking a rib 

 (the trocar to pass between two ribs) ; then 

 plunge a scalpel deep into the flesh, making a hole through the skin and 

 flesh for the trocar; insert the latter instrument and withdraw the trocar, 

 leaving the cannula to act as a spout; hold a pail and catch the water. If 

 pieces of lymph clog the cannula, pass in a small probe and push them off 



OPENING OF THE SKIN, 

 Preparatory to tapping the chest. 



