YOKE-INJURIES IN WORKING OXEN. 381 



be entirely removed, as appearances are of little importance, and 

 such animals are not troubled by flies. Where a fragment of 

 the occipital crest has been detached it should be removed, 

 whether the wound be recent or of old standing. Healing is 

 usually easy. 



In the dog pus formation in the temporal muscles is often kept 

 up by foreign bodies. From a hunting-dog Moller removed a splinter 

 of wood 3£ inches long, said to have been in position for nine 

 months. It had caused recurring abscess formation. The wounds 

 in cattle resulting from pressure of the yoke will be described under 

 the head of pressure injuries. 



Prognosis and treatment are simple. Attention must be given 

 to concussion of the brain, which is sometimes present. Rest and 

 antiphlogistic laxative treatment are indicated. After careful dis- 

 infection, the edges of the wound are brought together with button 

 sutures, or by other sutures placed at some distance from the margins, 

 and a bandage applied. When pus formation has set in, retraction 

 of the lappets may sometimes be prevented by inserting deep stitches 

 with a thick thread. Where pus formation is seen in the temporal 

 muscles of dogs, examination of the face should be made, to insure 

 the removal of such foreign bodies as shots or splinters of wood. 



(6.) YOKE-INJURIES IN WORKING OXEN. 



In working oxen the yoke often injures the head, necessitating 

 skilled treatment. The causes of such injuries are very varied. 

 Sometimes the skin alone, especially at the base of the horns, is 

 bruised. Extravasation of blood under the skin is rare, though 

 excoriations and even superficial necrosis of the skin occur 

 frequently. Periostitis in the yoke bed is probably more common 

 than is thought, but escapes observation. So long as the injury 

 remains aseptic no great harm results, but when the parts become 

 infected serious symptoms may follow. Extensive bruising of the 

 skin with excoriation and free suppuration is rare, but furunculosis 

 on the other hand is fairly common. Deep-seated suppuration, 

 with necrosis of the periosteum and bone, and disease of the 

 frontal sinuses, occur in exceptional cases. Suppuration near the 

 base of the horns is of particular importance, as the horns may 

 thus be lost, seriously impairing the animal's usefulness. 



The causes of these yoke-injuries are partly of a constitutional 

 character. A narrow forehead concentrates the pressure on one 

 spot, a bulging one causes the yoke to rock. Failure to keep the 



