464 FIRING. 



thus pi-oduced will be slight and easily treated, compared Avith that caused 

 by actually burning through the skin. 



A very considerable change has taken place in the breed of many of 

 the varieties of the horse, and the labour exacted from him. As illustra- 

 tions of this we refer to the altered character and pace of the modern 

 hunter, and the additional increase of speed required from the coach and 

 the post horse ; the exertion being limited only by the degree to which 

 every muscle and every nerve can be extended, while the calculation between 

 the utmost exaction of cruelty and the expenditure of vital power is reduced 

 to the merest fraction. The consequence of this is, that the horse is subjected 

 to severer injuries than he used to be, and severer measures are and must 

 be employed to remedy the evil. Hence the horrible applications of the 

 actual cautery to the horse that have disgraced the present day. Lesions — • 

 gashes have been made on either side of the tendon of the leg, which it 

 took no fewer than seven months to heal. Was there nothing short of 

 this lengthened torture that could have been done to relieve the victim ? 

 Could he not have been more lightly fired for the road or for the purposes 

 of breeding ? Was there no pasture on which he had earned a right to 

 graze ? — or could he not have been destroyed ? These sad lesions will 

 occasionally come before the practitioner and the owner. It will be for 

 the first to advocate that which, on a careful view of the case, mercy 

 prompts ; and the latter, except there is a reasonable prospect of ultimate 

 enjoyment, as well as usefulness, should never urge a continuation of 

 suffering. 



Supposing, however, that prospect to exist, the surgeon must discharge 

 his duty. These gashes, after a while, begin to close, and then commences 

 the beautiful process of granulation. Little portions of the integument 

 form on the centre of the wound, and the sides of the wound creep closer 

 together, and the skin steals over the surface until the chasm is perfectly 

 closed. In order to insure the continuance of this, a ridge of contracted 

 integument as hard as any cartilage, but without its elasticity, runs from 

 one end of the lesion to the other, tighter, and harder, and more effectual 

 every week, and month, and year, and lasting during the life of the animal. 

 Therefore, the veterinary surgeon is not to be too severely censured, if, 

 after due consideration, he is induced to undertake one of these fearful 

 operations : but let him do it as seldom as he can, and only when every 

 circumstance promises a favoui'able result. 



Some practitioners blister immediately after firing. As a general usage 

 it is not desirable. It may be required in bony tumours of considerable 

 extent, and long standing, and interfering materially with the action of 

 the neighbouring joint. Spavin accompanied by much lameness, and ring- 

 bone spreading round the coronet and involving the side cai-tilages or the 

 pastern joint, may justify it. The inflammation is rendered more intense, 

 and of considerably longer duration. In old affections of the round bone 

 it may be admitted, but no excuse can be made for it in slighter cases of 

 spi-ain or weakness, or staleness. 



On the day after the operation, it Avill be prudent gently to apply some 

 olive oil, or lard, over the wound. This will soften the skin, and render 

 it less likely to separate or ulcerate. A bandage Avould add to the irrita- 

 tion of the part. Any cracks of the skin, or ulcerations that may ensue, 

 must be treated with the calamine ointment. 



It will be evident that there is an advantage derived from firing to 

 which a blister can have no pretension. The skin, partially destroyed 

 by the iron, is reinstated and healed, not merely by the formation of some 

 new matter filling up the vacuity, but by the gradual drawing together 

 and closing of the separated edges. The skin, therefore, is lessened in 



