826 WOUNDS AND BRUISES OF THE METACARPUS. 



bandage was removed, bhe limb could be moved as usual. In sixty- 

 six days the horse was again put to work. Permanent deformity 

 of the fractured part is unavoidable. 



II.— WOUNDS AND BRUISES OF THE METACARPUS. 



On account of the skin being firmly united to the underlying 

 structures, wounds in this region, especially in large animals, often 

 take an unfavourable course. It sometimes happens that bones, 

 tendons, and tendon sheaths are all simultaneously injured, and 

 such cases demand the most careful antiseptic treatment. The 

 hair should be removed, along with any foreign bodies or loose shreds 

 of connective tissue, and the wound and its neighbourhood carefully 

 washed with a disinfectant. If possible the parts should be im- 

 mersed in a bath of sublimate, or carbolic solution, and the wound 

 irrigated with a powerful stream of sublimate until its edges are 

 thoroughly saturated with the solution. Gaping wounds must be 

 sutured with aseptic material, and a dressing applied over all. To 

 complete the disinfection it is well for some time to moisten the 

 dressing two or three times daily with an antiseptic. 



Immediately the dressing appears soaked with discharge or 

 blood it should be changed, under antiseptic precautions. Thus 

 treated the wound may unite by primary intention, even when 

 tendons, tendon sheaths, or bones are damaged, as shown by reported 

 cases. Similar precautions are required in all injuries complicated 

 With much loss of skin, or where large flaps are threatened with 

 necrosis. In such wounds, cicatrisation is difficult, for in consequence 

 of its firm structure and fixed position the skin cannot stretch ; and 

 even when the defect is filled up, the epidermis is not replaced. 

 Exuberant granulations, liable to result after lacerations, must be 

 repressed by the early use of astringents (iodoform conjoined with 

 tannin, dried alum), or by applying a well-fitting pressure dressing, 

 or the}' may be checked by caustics. In all cases the skin must. 

 as far as possible, be preserved, necrosis prevented by antiseptic 

 dressing, and the fact borne in mind that wounds which fail to heal 

 by fiist intention always produce well-marked cicatrices. 



In horses, the tendons and tendon sheaths in the metacarpal 

 and metatarsal regions are often injured, either by the horse lashing 

 out, or by its falling on sharp objects like broken bottles, scrap iron, 

 sickles, or scythes, by over-reaching in galloping or jumping, or 

 a blow from the foot of a following horse. The flexor tendons are 

 oftenest injured, the extensor pedis less frequently ; wounds of the 



