DISEASES OF THE HORSE. 335 



their progress and treatment, we are prepared to understand and 

 realize the necessity and the value of early and prompt attention upon 

 their discovery and diagnosis. 



Treatment.— ^ov simple bruises, like those which appear in the form 

 of broken knees or of carpitis, simple remedies, such as warm fomen- 

 tations or cold water applications and compresses of astringent mix- 

 tures, suggest themselves at once. Injuries of a more complicated 

 character, as lacerations of the skin or tearing of soft structures, will 

 also be benefited by simple dressings with antiseptic mixtures, as those 

 of the carbolic acid order. The escape of synovia should suggest the 

 prompt use of collodion dressings to check the flow and prevent the 

 further escape of the fluid. But if the discharge is abundant and 

 heavily suppurative, little can be done more than to put in practice 

 the "expectant" method with warm fomentations, repeatedly applied, 

 and soothing mucilaginous poultices. Improvement, if any is possible, 

 will be but slow to manifest itself. The most difficult of all things to 

 do, in view of varying interests and opinions — that is, in a practical 

 sense — is to abstain from "doing" entirely, and yet we are firmly con- 

 vinced that noninterference in the cases we are considering is the best 

 and wisest polic}^. 



In cases which are carried to a successful result the discharge will 

 by degrees diminish, the extreme pain will gradually subside, and the 

 convalescent will begin timidly to rest his foot upon the ground, and 

 presentl}^ to bear weight upon it, and perhaps, after a long and tedi- 

 ous process of recuperation, he may be returned to his former and 

 normal condition of usefulness. When the discharge has wholly 

 ceased and the wounds are entirely healed, a blister covering the 

 whole of the joint for the purpose of stimulating (he absorption of the 

 exudation will be of great service. But if, on the contrarj', there is 

 no amelioration of s^^mptoms and the progress of the disease resists 

 every attempt to check it; if the discharge continues to flow, not onh^ 

 without abatement, but in an increased volume, and not alone by a 

 single opening, but b}^ a number of fistulous tracts which have succes- 

 sively formed; if it seems evident that this drainage is rapidlj- and 

 painfull}^ sapping the suffering animal's vitalit}^ and a deficient vh 

 vltse fails to cooperate with the means of cure — all rational hope of 

 recovery ma}^ be finally abandoned. Anj^ further waiting for chances, 

 or time lost in experimenting, will be mere cruelt}" and there need be 

 no hesitation concerning the next step. The poor beast is under sen- 

 tence of death, and every consideration of interest and of humanity 

 demands an anticipation of nature's evident intent in the quick and 

 easy execution of the sentence. 



One of the essentials of treatment, and probably an indispensable 

 condition when recover}^ is in any wise attainable, is the suspension 

 of the patient in slings. He should be continued in them as long as 

 he can be made to submit quietly to their restraint. 



