PUNCTURED WOUNDS. 453 



amount of laceration and contusion. If the wound be shallow, 

 attended with little or no bruising, and free from foreign mat- 

 ters, adhesion may be possible, and ought to be promoted ; and 

 so long as oozing continues from the orifice, cold water bathing 

 is to be practised. When no more blood or serosity issues, a 

 pledget of tow dipped in collodion, or the shellac solution, is to 

 be placed over the opening so as to cover it entirely, or with the 

 exception of its most depending part. 



The animal is to be kept quiet ; a purgative given, and a mash 

 diet prescribed. 



In more serious cases, or in the simpler ones, when inflamma- 

 tory swelling supervenes, the wound must be dilated freely. 



In deep punctured wounds, with haemorrhage, it may be neces- 

 sary to dilate in order to secure an artery, or to remove a foreign 

 body ; and in the minor punctures, often seen in the neighbour- 

 hood of the elbow, it is important to bear in mind that there is 

 great risk of sub-fascial suppuration if dilatation is not practised 

 early. If there be much tension the skin and subcutaneous fascia 

 are to be divided longitudinally and to the same extent. Then 

 the fascia is to be divided transversely, so as to make a crucial inci- 

 sion in it ; this will relieve all tension. The same rule applies to 

 partially divided muscular fibres; theymust be divided thoroughly 

 and completely, both by a longitudinal and a transverse inci- 

 sion, so as to give free vent to any discharges from the deeper 

 parts of the wound. 



When this is done, warm fomentations are to be frequently 

 and freely applied; and in situations where poultices can be 

 adjusted, they should be employed — (boiled turnips form, 1 

 think, the best poultice ; they are very soft, and retain their 

 moisture for a longer time than bran or linseed meal) — and the 

 surface of the wound dressed with white lotion or opium, and 

 water. 



The constitutional treatment must be directed to relieve pain 

 by opium, and the accompanying fever by a purgative, aconite, 

 and antiphlogistic diet. If the puncture be in a foot or limb, with 

 excessive lameness, and inability to lie down, the slings must be 

 early employed. 



Fungous protrusions or excessive granulations on the surface 

 of the wound are not to be irritated by caustic applications ; 

 they are the tissues of the part, swollen and congested, and will 



