PRIMITIVE EFFECTS. 



167 



face between the lines, as well as at tlie bottom, if the firing has 

 been stronger. These crusts of dry serosity remain adherent for 

 a few days only, and from the sixth day to the eighth they begin 

 to separate, but the dropping off of the cauterized portions of the 

 skin requires a longer time, varying according to the degree of the 

 firing. In the first degree they are eUminated by the formation 

 of a new layer of epidermis. It is a process of dry desquamation 

 by which they are exfoHated, and requires from two to three 

 weeks for its accompUshment. In the second degree, when the 

 thickness of the cauterized tissue is greater, the scabs proper are 

 more adherent, and it requu-es a process nearly aUied to one of 

 suppurative expulsion, which may consume a month before the final 

 sloughing is accompHshed. In the third degree, a regular process 

 of suppiu'ation is necessary for the removal of the scabs, and 

 its completion will require a period of not less than five or six 

 weeks. 



After light filing, the marks left are scarcely detectable ; after 

 the second degree, the hair grows over the lines, but in an irregu- 

 lar way, giving a somewhat roughened appearance to the jJart, 

 while the strong firing leaves a thick and callous epidermis, and 

 therefore a serious cicatrix. Besides these first and direct effects 

 of the cautery, there are others which ought not to be overlooked. 

 About the parts where the firing has been applied, the skin and 

 the subcutaneous tissues become the seat of extensive inflamma- 

 tion, accompanied with pain and swelling, and in some animals 

 this may assume a severe aspect. The swelling may extend until 

 it involves the entire extremity, and this may seriously interfere 

 with the act of locomotion. It, however, subsides and disappears 

 as the process of the removal of the scabs advances, and when 

 this has been accomplished, the swelling and pain will also have 

 disappeared. 



(b) Secondary effects. These are slow in their development, 

 and cannot be easily or well described, and they vary widely ac- 

 cording to the objects for which the firing has been ap^Dhed. It 

 may be said, however, on general principles, that the development 

 of secondary effects cannot be expected except after a consider- 

 able lapse of time, allowing at least several months, and in any 

 case, only long after the objective effects have entirely disappeared. 



The treatment following the operation, is of a very simjile 

 character. For a few days, and until the secretion upon the 



