DISEASES OF HORSES 223 



conditions of the disease, whether the spavin is nothing more than 

 a simple exostosis, or whether accompanied by the complication of 

 arthritis, there must be a total suspension of effort until the danger 

 is over. Less than a month's quiet ought not to be thought of the 

 longer the better. 



Good results may also be expected from local applications. The 

 various lotions which cool the parts, the astringents which lower the 

 tension of the blood vessels, the tepid fomentations which accelerate 

 the circulation in the engorged capillaries, the liniments of various 

 composition, the stimulants, the opiate anodynes, the sedative prepa- 

 rations of aconite, the alterative frictions of iodine all these are 

 recommended and prescribed by one or another. 'We prefer counter- 

 irritants, for the simple reason, among many others, that they tend 

 by the promptness of their action to prevent the formation of the 

 bony deposits. The lameness will often yield to the blistering action 

 of cantharides, in the form of ointment or liniment, and to the alter- 

 ative preparations of iodine or mercury. And ii the owner of a 

 spavined horse really succeeds in removing the lameness, he has ac- 

 complished all that he is justified in hoping for; beyond this let 

 him be well persuaded thai a cure is impossible. 



For this reason, moreover, he will do well to be on his guard 

 against the patented cures which the traveling horse doctor may urge 

 upon him, and withhold his faith from the circular of the agent who 

 will deluge him with references and certificates. It is possible that 

 nostrums may in some exceptional instances prove serviceable, but 

 the greater number of them are capable of producing only injurious 

 effects. The removal of the bony tumor can not be accomplished by 

 any such means, and if a trial of these unknown compounds should 

 be followed by complications no worse than the establishment of one 

 or more ugly, hairless cicatrices, it will be well for both the horse 

 and his owner. 



Rest and counter-irritation, with the proper medicaments, consti- 

 tute, then, the prominent points in the treatment designed for the 

 relief of bone spavin. Yet there are cases in which all the agencies 

 and methods referred to seem to lack effectiveness and fail to produce 

 satisfactory results. Either the rest has been prematurely interrupted 

 or the blisters have failed to rightly modify the serous infiltration, 

 or the case in hand has some undiscernible characteristics which 

 seem to have rendered the disease neutral to the agencies employed 

 against it. An indication of more energetic means is then presented, 

 and free cauterization with the firing iron becomes necessary. At 

 this point a word of explanation in reference to this operation of fir- 

 ing may be appropriate for the satisfaction of any among our read- 

 ers who may entertain an exaggerated idea of its severity and possi- 

 ble cruelty. 



The operation is one of simplicity, but is nevertheless one which, 

 in order to secure its benefits, must be reserved for times and occa- 

 sions of which only the best knowledge and highest discretion should 

 be allowed to judge. It is not the mere application of a hot iron to a 

 given part of the body which constitutes the operation of firing. It 



