374 SrRAlX OF THE FLEXOR TENDONS OR BACK SIXEWS. 



fchan by moderate pressure. The bandage sbould be kept constantly wot 

 with cold water — ^to each pint of which a quarter of a pint of spii'it of 

 wine has been added — the skin will be sKghtly stimulated and contracted, 

 and the cold produced by the constant evaporation will tend to subdue 

 the remaining and deep-seated inflammation. This bandage should be 

 daily tightened in proportion as the parts are capable of bearing increased 

 pressure, and the treatment should be persisted in for a fortnight. If, at 

 the expiration of that period, there is no swelling, tenderness, or heat, the 

 horse may gi'adually, and very cautiously, be put to his usual Avork. 



Should there, however, remain the slightest lameness or considerable 

 enlargement, the leg must be bhstered, and, indeed, it would seldom be 

 bad practice to blister after every case of severe sprain : for the inflamma- 

 tion may lie deep in the sheath of the tendons, and the part once sprained 

 may long remain weak, and subject to renewed injury, not only from un- 

 usual, but even ordinaiy exertion. If a blister is resorted to, time should 

 be given for it to produce its gradual and full effect, and the horse should 

 be afterwards turned out for one or two months. We must here be per- 

 mitted to repeat that a bhster should never be used while heat or tender- 

 ness remains about the part, otherwise the slightest injury may be, and 

 often is, converted into incurable lameness. 



Very severe sprains, or much oftener, sprains badly treated, will require 

 the appKcation of the cautery. If from long-continued inflammation the 

 structure of the part is materially altered, — if the swelling is becoming 

 callous or the skin is thickened and prevents the free motion of the Kmb. 

 no stimulus short of the hot iron will be sufficient to rouse the absorbents 

 to remove the injurious deposit. The principal use of firing is to rouse 

 the absorbents to such increased action that they shall take up and remove 

 the diseased thickness of the skin, and likewise the unnatural deposit in 

 the cellular substance beneath. The firing should be applied in straight 

 lines, because the skin, contracting by the application of the cautery, and 

 gradually regaining its elastic nattu^e, will thus form the best bandage 

 over the weakened part. It should hkewise be as deep as it can be apphed, 

 even occasionally penetrating the skin. Here, even more particularly 

 than in the blister, time should be given for the full action of the firing. 

 This removal of diseased matter is a work of slow progress. Many weeks 

 pass away before it is perfectly accomplished ; and, after firing, the horse 

 should have at least a six months', and it would be better if he could be 

 given a twelve months' run at grass. When the animal has been set to 

 work in a few weeks, and the enlargement remains, or lameness returns, 

 the fault is to be attributed to the impatience of the owner, and not to the 

 want of power in the operation or skill in the operator. 



Farriers are apt to blister immediately after firing. A blister may be 

 useful six weeks or two months after firing, if lameness remains ; but can 

 never be wanted immediately after the severe operation of the cautery. 

 If the iron has been skilfully apphed, subsequent bhstering inflicts on the 

 animal, already sufficiently tortured, much unnecessaiy and useless pain, 

 and should never be resorted to by hun who possesses the sHghtest feeling 

 of humanity. 



In examining a horse for purchase, the closest attention should be paid 

 to the appearance of these flexor tendons. If there is any thickness of 

 cellular substance around them, that horse has been sprained violently, or 

 the spi-ain has not been properly treated. Tliis tliickcning w!Il probably 

 fetter the motion of the tendon, and dispose the part to the recurrence of 

 inflammation and lameness. Such a horse, although at the time perfectly 

 free from lameness, should be regarded with suspicion, and cannot fairly 



