180 HORSE, SWINE AND POULTRY DISEASES 



remove the foreign body if possible, and apply hot fomentations or 

 poultices to the wound until suppuration is fairly established. Anti- 

 septic and disinfectant injections may then be used. Should pus 

 accumulate in the tissues, openings must be made at the most de- 

 pending parts for its escape. Wounds from shotguns fired close to 

 the animals are serious. They are virtually lacerated and contused 

 wounds. Remove all the shot possible from the wound, and treat as 

 directed for contusions. When small shot strike the horse from a 

 distance they stick in the skin or only go through it. The shot 

 grains must be picked out, but as a rule this peppering of the skin 

 amounts to but little. 



POISONED WOUNDS. 



These injuries are the result of bites of snakes, rabid dogs, stings 

 of bees, wasps, etc. A single sting is not dangerous, but an animal 

 is often stung by a swarm of insects, when the chief danger occurs 

 from the swelling produced. If stung about the head, the nostrils 

 may be closed as a result of the swelling, causing labored breathing 

 and possibly asphyxiation. Intoxication may be produced by the 

 absorption of this poison and is manifested by staggering gait, spread- 

 ing of the legs, paralysis of the muscles, difficult respiration, and a 

 rise of temperature. Death may follow in five to ten hours. 



Treatment. Douse animal with cold water and apply any 

 alkaline liquid, such as soapsuds, bicarbonate of soda, or weak solu- 

 tion of ammonia. Internally give alcohol, ether, or camphor to 

 strengthen the heart. In case of bites by rattlesnakes, moccasin, or 

 other poisonous snakes, a painful swelling occurs about the bitten 

 part, which is followed by labored breathing, weakness, retching, 

 fever, and death from collapse. The animal usually recovers if it 

 can be kept alive over the third day. In treating the animal, a tight 

 ligature should be passed about the part above the wound to keep the 

 poison from entering the general circulation. Wash out the wound 

 thoroughly with antiseptics and then apply a caustic, or burn with 

 a hot instrument. Cold water may be applied to the wound to com- 

 bat the inflammation. Bites of rabid dogs produce an infected 

 wound, and the virus of rabies introduced in this manner should be 

 removed or destroyed in the wound. Therefore produce considerable 

 bleeding by incising the wound, wash out thoroughly with 10 per 

 cent solution of zinc chloride, and then apply caustics or the actual 

 cautery. 



HARNESS GALLS (SITFASTS). 



Wounds or abrasions of the skin are frequently caused by ill- 

 fitting harness or saddles. When a horse has been resting from 

 steady work for some time, particularly after being kept idle in a 

 stable on a scanty allowance of grain, as in winter, he is soft and 

 tender and sweats easily when put to work again. In this condition 

 he is apt to sweat and chafe under the harness, especially if it is 

 hard and poorly fitted. This chafing is likely to cause abrasions of 

 the skin, and thus pave the way for an abscess, or for a chronic blem- 

 ish, unless attended to very promptly. Besides causing the animal 

 considerable pain, chafing, if long continued, leads to the formation 



