WOUKDS.] 



MODERN VETERINARY PRACTICE. 



[wounds. 



a ball, composed of the following ingredifiils, 

 sboulil bo given : — 



Aloes 4 (Jiachms. 



Kosin 2 do. 



Form Nvitli soft soap nrul linsi'ed meal. 



If, by this time, the parts should have beconio 

 much swollen, bathe them well with hot water; 

 and if the discharge is once produced, it is a 

 sign that the animal is going on well. Con- 

 tinue the dressing, with the medicine occa- 

 sionally, and a cure will soon be effected. 

 Should the wound, however, not have been 

 made in the direction before named, but have 

 entered the cavity of the chest, and the lungs 

 become in anv means ruptured, the case is then 

 hopeless. This will easily be ascertained by 

 air rusliiiig out of the wound, and by the pecu- 

 liar scarlet hue of the blood. 



If swelling should take place between the 

 legs, or under the chest, take the phleme and 

 strike it, to let out the air which has been ex- 

 travasated. 



WOUNDS OF THE ABDOMEN. 



"Wounds of the abdomen generally arise from 

 the horse having been gored with the horns of 

 some mischievous bull or cow, whilst in the 

 field, or by his having been staked, or not un- 

 frequently by some of the hooks carelessly 

 attached to the harness. These have some- 

 times been the cause of frightful lacera- 

 tions, when lock-jaw has been known to su- 

 pervene. 



When they are so severe as to penetrate the 

 cavity of the abdomen, they are attended with 

 much danger. If any of the intestines should 

 protrude, they should be carefully replaced, 

 unless they should be very cold, or mortifica- 

 tion appear; in which case the parts should be 

 well bathed with warm water, not too hot at 

 first, but made warmer by degrees, until it 

 approaches to blood-heat ; then, after return- 

 ing the intestines, sew up the external wound, 

 and apply a roller, padded, to the part. Neither 

 food nor water should be given, but clysters of 

 gruel, and also gruel as a draught ; but this 

 sparingly at first. AV^hen the roller is to be 

 removed it should be done with the greatest 

 caution; and if appearances are favourable, 

 a pleget of tow, and a large adhesive plaister 

 over the whole ; then the padding and the rol- 

 ler should be applied as before. In such cases 

 2i 



e()i)ion8 bleeding nh<>uld be used, as booh oh the 

 first dressing is over. Jf morlificution uhould 

 have taken place, tho horse will soon evince 

 it; but, shtiuld better fortune attend the 

 treatment, he must be brought on bv degrcee, 

 and not be fid loo freely lor some time. 



WOUNDS OF JOINTS. 



From the tendinous and membranous nature 

 of the parts which surround the large joints, 

 wounds in them, wluther of a punctured or 

 incised kind, are attended with great danger; 

 and, although these joints are not very sensitive 

 in a sound state, yet, when inllamed they be- 

 come exceedingly so, and frequently are the 

 cause of violent pain and fever. 



Superficial wounds of the joints are often dis- 

 agreeable cases ; but the danger is always 

 increased when the injury penetrates the cap- 

 sular ligament. When this is the case, it may 

 be detected by the introduction of a probe, and 

 frequently by a discharge of the synovia, which 

 is secreted by the inner membrane of the cap- 

 sular ligament of the joint, for the purpose of 

 facilitating its motion. But as a discharge of 

 a similar kind may proceed from mere wounds 

 of such (Jjurscd viucosce) synovial bags, as in 

 the case of windgalls, &c., that lie under the 

 tendons of muscles, in the vicinity of joints, 

 we might be deceived, were we not acquainted 

 with the situation of these little membranous 

 bags. Wounds which penetrate large joints, 

 must be held as much more dangerous than 

 those in which only these bursa are opened. 



Almost all the joints of the horse are liable 

 to be laid open, and their cavities exposed. 

 The stifle, the pastern, and the knee, have been 

 seen all at once, completely exposed; but the 

 knee-joint is, of all others, the most fre- 

 quently liable to accident. It does sometimea 

 occur to the shoulder-joint, but very rarely. 

 When a joint is penetrated, there is an escape 

 of synovia, or, as it is commonly called, joint- 

 oil. In consequence of the escape of this fluiJ, 

 the ends of the bones are brought together, 

 occasioning, in conjunction with the air getting 

 in, considerable inflammation through the 

 whole extent of the capsular surface, and caus- 

 ing that exquisitely tender sensation which the 

 horse feels on having the joint touched. In 

 some cases the fever runs so high as to prove 

 fatal. AlU instance of this occurred at the Eoyal 



209 



