INFLAMMATION. 167 



odour; sometimes it is mixed with blood, and is then called 

 ' sanious pus.' When pus has been retained for any length 

 of time in a cavity it acquires an offensive odour, and is 

 known as 'fetid.' Pus, is called ' ichorous ' when it aggra- 

 vates and inflames the part it passes over ; and ' specific ' 

 when it contains a poison capable of producing disease in a 

 healthy animal when inoculated with it ; such is the pus of 

 glanders and farcy. 



Treatment of Inflammation. — The first thing to do in the 

 treatment of inflammation is to ascertain, if possible, what 

 is the exciting cause. Having done this, it should be 

 removed. The inflamed parts should be kept in a perfect 

 state of rest. General quietude and dieting of the patient 

 are also very important adjuncts in the treatment of in- 

 flammation. Medicinal remedies may be both local and 

 constitutional. At one time blood-letting was practised 

 indiscriminately, and considered to be the only means by 

 which inflammation could be successfully combated. How- 

 ever, that idea is long since exploded, and other and more 

 rational means of treatment are now adopted. Blood- 

 letting is no doubt of some benefit in certain and judiciously 

 selected cases of inflammation ; but in a vast majority of 

 cases the abstraction of blood is not only absurd and 

 useless, but is positively injurious, and indiscriminate bleed- 

 ing should be neither practised nor tolerated. One of the 

 best reasons ever given for bleeding was the one given by 

 the farrier who, on being asked by a gentleman what he 

 w^as bleeding a horse for (the horse appearing to be in 

 perfect health), immediately replied, ' For a shilling, sir.' 

 Thousands of animal and human lives have been destroyed 

 by the use of the lancet. Bleeding is, however, useful in 

 certain cases, as in acute laminitis, etc. Cold water as a 

 local application to allay inflammation is used extensively, 

 is highly beneficial in some cases, and when judiciously 



