FIRING. 347 



the ointiTient if the blister does not rise, but the failure is generally to be attributed to 

 the idleness of the operator. 



The head of the horse should be tied up during the first two days; except mat, 

 when the sides are blistered, the body-clothes may be so contrived as to prevent the 

 animal from nibbling and blemishing the part, or blistering bis muzzle. At the expi- 

 ration of twenty-four hours, a little olive or neat's foot oil should be applied over the 

 blister, which will considerably lessen the pain and supple the part, and prevent cracks 

 in the skin that may be difficult to heal. The oil should be applied morninir and 

 night, until the scabs peel otf. When they begin to loosen, a lather of soap and water 

 applied with a sponge may hasten their removal, but no violence must be used. 



Every particle of litter should be carefully removed from the stall, for the sharp 

 ends of the straw coming in contact with a part rendered so tender and irritable by 

 the blister, will cause a very great annoyance to the animal. After the second day 

 the horse may be sutfered to lie down ; but the possibility of blemishing himself 

 should be prevented by a cradle or wooden necklace, consisting of round strips of 

 wood, strung together, reaching from the lower jaw to the chest, and preventing him 

 from sufficiently turning or bending his head to get at the blistered part. 



A blister thus treated will rarely produce the slightest blemish. When the scabs 

 are all removed, the blister may be repeated, if the case should appear to require it, 

 or the horse may be turned out. 



In inflammations which threaten life, a blister can scarcely be too active or exten- 

 sive. In inflammation of the lungs it should reach over the whole of the sides, and 

 the greater part of the brisket, for, should a portion of the fly be absorbed, and produce 

 strangury (inflammation, or spasmodic atfection of the neck of the bladder,) even this 

 new irritation may assist in subduing the first and more dangerous one. In blisterino-, 

 however, for injuries or diseases of the legs or feet, some caution is necessary. When 

 speaking of the treatment of sprain of the back sinews, p. 271, it was stated, that " a 

 blister should never be used while any heat or tenderness remained about the part," 

 for we should then add to the superficial inflammation, instead of abating the deeper- 

 seated one, and enlargements of the limb and extensive ulcerations might follow, 

 which would render the horse perfectly unserviceable. When there is a tendency to 

 grease, a blister is a dangerous thing, and has often aggravated the disease. In winter, 

 the inflammation of the skin produced by blistering is apt to degenerate into grease; 

 therefore, if it should be necessary to blister the horse during that season, great care 

 must be taken that he is not exposed to cold, and, particularly, that a current of cold 

 air does not come upon the legs. 



The inhuman practice of blistering all round at the same time, and perhaps bio-h on 

 the legs, cannot be too strongly reprobated. Many a valuable horse has been lost 

 tlirough the excessive general irritation which this has produced, or its violent effect 

 on the urinary organs ; and that has been particularly the case, when corrosive subli- 

 mate has entered into the composition of the blister. 



If strangury should appear, the horse should be plentifully supplied with linseed 

 tea, which is thus best prepared — a gallon of boiling water is thrown on half a pound 

 of linseed ; the infusion suffered to stand until nearly cold, and the clean mucilao-inous 

 fluid then poured off, Three-tpiarters of a pound of Epsom salts should also be given, 

 dissolved in a quart of water, and, after that, a ball every six hours, containing opium 

 and camphor, with linseed meal and treacle. 



Half a pound or a pound of good mustard powder, made into a paste with boiling 

 water, and applied hot, will often produce as good a blister as cantharides. It is a 

 preferable one, when, as in inflammation of the kidneys, the effect of cantharides on 

 the urinary organs is feared. Hartshorn is not so effectual. Tincture of croton 

 makes an active liquid blister, and so do some of the preparations of iodine. 



N FIRING, 



Whatever seeming cruelty may attend this operation, it is in many cases indis- 

 pensable. The principle on which we have recourse to it is similar to that which 

 justifies the use of a blister — by producing superficial inflammation we maybe enabled 

 to get rid of a deeper-seated one, or we may excite the absorbents to remove an 

 unnatural bony or other tumour. It raises more intense external inflammation than 

 we can produce by any other means. It may be truly said to be the most powerful 

 agent that we have at our disposal. Humanity, however, will dictate, that on account 



