4 OPERATIVE TECHNIQUE. 



unfavourable sequelae, like secondary bleeding, are more easily discovered 

 and dealt with then than in the late afternoon or evening. 



Recovery is often favoured by turning the animal to grass, for which 

 reason spring is a very good time to choose when an option exists. 

 The extremes of temperature occurring in winter and summer are dis- 

 advantageous. Great heat favours putrefactive processes in wounds, 

 and flies, besides irritating the animals, often infect the parts. 



Place of Operation. — When no special operating room is avail- 

 able, some open well-lighted spot, sheltered from wind and dust, should 

 be chosen. The ground should be covered with clean straw to the 

 depth of eighteen inches or two feet. Litter should certainly not be 

 used. For dogs an operating table covered with a thick plate of glass 

 can be used. 



It is never wise to operate in boxes. If the horse is lying and 

 unable to rise it should be drawn into an open space. 



Assistants. — In preparing for an operation sufficient reliable assist- 

 ance must be provided. Each assistant should be carefully instructed 

 beforehand in his duty, whether it be holding, casting, or fixing the 

 animal. To command efficiently and preserve order the surgeon must 

 thoroughly understand every detail himself, a knowledge which can 

 only be acquired by actual manual performance. Students therefore 

 should themselves have opportunities of casting horses, each taking 

 command in turn, until all know their duties. In addition to the men 

 required for holding, casting, and tying the horse, the operator requires 

 an intelligent personal assistant. An expert is not always necessary ; a 

 layman with some dexterity serves the purpose very well. This 

 assistant should wash, shave, disinfect, and prepare the field of opera- 

 tion ; collect the needful instruments, hold retractors, sponge the 

 wound, etc. ; but as he then comes in contact with the wound in nearly 

 the same degree as the operator, the same precautions are incumbent on 

 him as on the surgeon in relation to disinfecting hands, nails, etc. For 

 extensive, complicated, and dangerous operations, however, such an 

 assistant is inadequate. A qualified person is then almost indispensable, 

 inasmuch as he should know^ immediately what to do in the event of 

 dangerous complications arising ; what to compress, what to grasp, 

 which instruments to hand, etc. There is often no time for the 

 lengthened explanations a la3'man would probably require. 



Operations like the removal of tumours, etc., are seldom very urgent ; 

 the surgeon has full time therefore to make all necessar}- preparations 

 and to arrange for the help of a fellow practitioner. Unfortunately 

 however there appears to be an impression amongst many that the 

 practitioner injures himself in the view of the owner of the patient 



