4!J2 VARIETIES OF SADDLE-GALLS. 



great swelling and profuse pus formation, swelling of the neigh- 

 bouring lymph vessels, and of those on the shoulder and over the 

 ribs. Suppuration with necrosis in the depths is indicated by 

 exuberant, flabby, dark-red granulations, which bleed easily ; whilst 

 implication of the superior spinous processes is shown by firm 

 swelling and the greater degree of pain. Necrosis of these processes, 

 or of the cartilage covering them, can often be detected by palpation. 

 Where the skin has become necrotic, it is hard and leather-like, and 

 the hairs on the affected spot are usually erect. Excoriations 

 produced by rubbing are easily seen. 



Course. Where extravasation has been slight, cutaneous swellings 

 usually disperse rapidly. The extravasate poured into the inter- 

 stices of the cutis is reabsorbed, and the damaged tissue undergoes 

 repair. The status quo ante is thus restored. Proper treatment 

 may remove such a swelling within a few days ; but, as formed 

 elements gradually replace the earlier infiltration of blood or serum, 

 the longer such swellings have existed the longer will be the time 

 occupied in their removal. 



Subcutaneous extravasations of blood or lymph do not become 

 absorbed so rapidly, and frequently last eight to fourteen days or 

 longer. The larger the fluctuating swelling, the longer it persists. 

 Sub-fascial extravasations are still more tedious, and hence those 

 on the withers are always more difficult of removal than those on 

 the saddle-bed. 



Cutaneous swellings are frequently followed by necrosis of the 

 skin. Owing to defective local nutrition, it is most common on 

 the site of old cicatrices, and also where the surfaces, while still tender, 

 are again subjected to severe pressure. The living processes are 

 thus arrested, the fluids are to a great extent pressed out of the 

 tissues and vessels, and limited necrosis results. When this occurs, 

 demarcation generally takes two to three weeks, sometimes even 

 longer ; it is first completed in the loose subcutis, later in the corium. 



The third termination is suppuration : it seldom occurs in the 

 cutaneous swellings, but is common in the subcutaneous, especially 

 in those associated with extensive extravasation. Suppuration is 

 met with when the skin is infected as well as bruised, and often 

 after the knife has been unnecessarily used. Pus formation may 

 lead to necrosis of the neighbouring fascia, of the ligamentum nucha?, 

 and even of the superior spinous processes, producing fistulous withers. 

 Infection and burrowing suppuration excite inflammation, which 

 increases the difficulty of free discharge, brings about a circulus 

 vitiosus, and greatly delays recovery. Hiibner, during such a case 



