OPENED KNEE AND OTHER JOINTS. 217 



may be gently introduced for the purpose of removing any particles of 

 dirt or gravel within the wound. A paste is then to be prepared, com- 

 posed of wheaten flour and table-beer only, which are to be well stirred 

 together cold, and afterwards boiled for about five minutes, until the paste 

 becomes of the consistence commonly used by paper-hangers. It may be 

 then coloured by a small quantity of bole armenian, and applied moderately 

 warm to the knee ; being spread with a spatula as thick as it will lie, not 

 only on the wound, but all round the joint, and for some space up the arm, 

 as well as about four inches below the knee on the cannon. A very thin 

 light pledget of tow, sufficiently extended to encompass the knee, is to be 

 applied, in front of the joint, upon the paste ; then nearly half a sheet of 

 stout brown paper in a similar manner, and a large cotton stocking, with 

 the foot off, drawn well up over the whole. On the outside of the stocking 

 another thin layer of the paste is to be applied, and a calico bandage, six 

 yards in length and from four to five inches wide, is to be rolled round 

 the part with very moderate but regular pressure ; another six-yard 

 roller, of the same description, is then to be applied, but with a less degree 

 of pressure. 



" A moderate quantity of blood should be drawn from the neck, accord- 

 ing to the age and condition of the patient, and a small dose of aloes should 

 be administered, as much as would be expected to render the fseces pulta- 

 ceous, but without purgation." The horse should be slung in the manner 

 I have recommended. A cart-horse breeching, with any other suitable 

 tackle that may be found on the spot, will, by management and ingenuity, 

 generally prove very serviceable in effecting this. The part of the treat- 

 ment on which Mr. Turner chiefly relies for accomplishing his end, is, 

 " Never to remove the dressing just described until the joint has closed^ and 

 the synovia ceased to flow." — " By the second or third day the bandage 

 becomes hard, dry, and as harsh as a board, owing to the heat of the in- 

 flamed limb having completely dried the paste. There is then usually a 

 considerable tumefaction both above and below the bandage. The animal 

 evinces much pain; his respiration is hurried, his pulse quick, and, perhaps, 

 the appetite impaired. But the time is now arrived at which ease may be 

 afforded the patient, without in the least obstructing the process of cure. 

 This resource consists in making four longitudinal incisions through every 

 layer of the bandage, a notch above and below on each side, and leaving 

 the bandage entire both before and behind. The relaxation from pressure, 

 by the length of these notches or incisions, must be as limited as the 

 urgency of the symptoms will allow; but in every case I make it a rule to 

 afford this relief in some degree. From this period the constitutional dis- 

 turbance comparatively ceases, the appetite returns, and respiration is 

 tranquillised, although the pulse may remain quick. But now we are 

 possessed of a substitute for the injured capsular ligament, — a compress, 



