352 OPERATIONS. 



tail shall be still more elevated and curved. Two incisions only are made in the tail 

 of a mare, and the second not very deep. 



When the second incision is made, some fibres of the muscles between the first and 

 second will project into the wound, and must be removed bj' a pair of curved scissors. 

 The same must be done with the projecting portions from between the second and 

 third incisions. The wounds should then be carefully examined, in order to ascer- 

 tain that the muscles have been equally divided on each side, otherwise the tail will 

 be carried awry. This being done, pledgets of tow must be introduced deeply into 

 each incision, and confined, but not too tightly, by a bandage. A very profuse bleed- 

 ing will alone justify any tightness of bandage, and the ill consequences tnat have 

 resulted from nicking are mainly attributable to the unnecessary force that is used in 

 confining these pledgets. Even if the bleeding, immediately after the operation, 

 should have been very great, the roller must be loosened in two or three hours, other- 

 wise swelling and inflammation, and even death, may possibly ensue. Twenty -four 

 hours after the operation, the bandage must be quite removed ; and then, all that is 

 necessary, so far as the healing of the incisions is concerned, is to keep them clean. 



If, however, the tail were suffered to hang down, the divided edges of the muscles 

 would again come in contact with each other, and close ; the natural depression of 

 the tail would remain ~; and the animal would have been punished for no purpose. 

 The wounds must remain open, and that can 'only be accomplished by forcibly keeping 

 the tail curved back during two or three weeks. For this purpose a cord, one or two 

 feet in length, is affixed to the end of the hair, which terminates in another divided 

 cord, each division going over a pulley on cither side of the back of the stall. A 

 weight is hung at either extremity sufficient to keep the incisions properly open, and 

 regulated by the degree in which this is wished to be accomplished. The animal 

 will thus be retained in an uneasy position, although, after the first two or three days, 

 probably not one of acute pain. It is barbarous to increase this uneasiness or pain 

 by affixing too great a weight to the cords ; for it should be remembered that the 

 proper elevated curve is given to the tail, not by the weight keeping it in a certain 

 position for a considerable time, but by the depth of the first incisions, and the degree 

 in which the wounds are kept open. By every ounce of weight beyond that which is 

 necessary to keep the incisions apart, unnecessary suffering is inflicted. Some prac- 

 titioners use only one pulley ; others do not use an)', but put on a light girth, and tie 

 a cord from the end of the tail to the girth, bending it over the back. The double 

 pulley, however, is the least painful to the horse, and more perfectly secures the 

 proper elevation and straight direction of the tail. 



The dock should not — for the first three or four days — be brought higher than the 

 back. Dangerous irritation and inflammation would probably be produced. It may, 

 after that, be gradually raised to an elevation of fort3r-five degrees. The horse should 

 be taken out of the pulleys, and gently exercised once or twice every day ; but the 

 pulleys cannot finally be dispensed with until a Fortnight after the wounds have 

 healed, because the process of contraction, or the approach of the divided parts, goes 

 on for some time after the skin is perfect over the incisions, and the tail would thus 

 sink below the desired elevation. 



If the tail has not been unnecessarily extended by enormous weights, no bad conse- 

 quences will usually follow ; but if considerable inflammation should ensue, the tail 

 must be taken from the pulley and diligently fomented with simple warm water, and 

 a dose of physic given. Locked-jaw has in some rare instances followed, under 

 which the horse generally perishes. The best means of cure in the early state of this 

 disease is to amputate the tail at the joint above the highest incision. In order to 

 prevent the hair from coining off, it should be unplaited and combed out every fourth 

 or fifth day. 



