UL0SB8.] 



VETRRTVAin" PPvArTTrE. 



[ULCIBS. 



comrium rulo is, that oiio auturo is Biidi- 

 cieiit for every inch of tho wouml ; but in some 

 instances a stitch must bo nioro frciiuently 

 made than tliia, partiouhirly when a wound 

 gapes very much, in consequence of a trans- 

 verso division of nnisoles. It is necessary to 

 pierce the skin at a sudieient distance from 

 the sides of the wound, lest the thread should 

 cut throui^h the llesh in a short time ; the dis- 

 tance should bo about three or four-tenths of 

 nn inch. "When a wound is very deep, it would 

 be wrong, and even, in many instances, dan- 

 gerous to drive the needle through a vast 

 ihiclcncss of parts. Other wounds, of consid- 

 erable length, might not be in some places 

 four-tenths of an inch deep, though it is true, 

 sutures — the interrupted one at Jeast — can 

 never be requisite at such points. 



The interrupted suture obviously receives its 

 name from the interspaces between the stitches; 

 and it is the one most frequently employed. 

 Its action is always to be assisted and sup- 

 ported, either by a bandage, if the wound is 



in the limbs. If in other bituntiouH, by adhe- 

 sive plaister, Ac. 



The Glover s Suture. This hud rIho tho name 

 of tlie cunlinut'd suture. It was executed by 

 introducing tlie tieedlo first into one lip of tlio 

 wound from within outward.s, then into tho 

 other the same way, and in this manner tho 

 whole track uf the wound was sewed up. Hut 

 the glover's suture is now almost fallen into 

 desuetude, as improper to be employed in cases 

 of common wounds. When it is remembered 

 in making this suture, how many stitches are 

 unavoidable, bow unevenly they are made, and 

 in what a puckered state the suture drags tho 

 edges of tho skin together, and what irritation 

 it produces, we can no longer be surprised at 

 its now being never practised. 



The Ttcistcd Suture is not very applicable to 

 the horse, though by some writers it is recom- 

 mended for certain wounds, as the eyelids, lips, 

 nostrils, &c. It may be advantageous in somo 

 cases, but the interrupted has been preferred 

 to all others, and on all occasions. 



CHAPTER XVIL 



ULCERS. — TJLCBKa IN GENERAL ; POLL-EVIL ; FISTULOUS WITHERS ; ULCERS IN THE MOUTH ; STRAJfai.ES ; 



VINES. 



ULCERS IN GENERAL. 

 Ulceration is the result of a certain process 

 which sores sometimes undergo in animal 

 bodies. In this process the lymphatics appear 

 to be, at least, as active as the blood-vessels. 

 An ulcer may be defined as a chasm formed 

 on the surface of the body by the action of 

 the absorbents in removing parts back into 

 the system. Or, in other words, it consists of 

 the absorption or removal of substance. It is 

 a useful process of nature, though very usually 

 a troublesome disease. At first, Ic may be 

 difficult to conceive how a part of the body 

 can be removed by itself; but there is not 

 more difficulty in concdiVing this, than how a 

 body can form itself. Both facts are equally 

 well confirmed. When it becomes necessary 

 2 p 



that some whole living part should be re- 

 moved, nature effects the object by conferring 

 a new activity on the absorbents, and by 

 throwing the part to be absorbed into a stati- 

 which yields to this operation. Tlie absorp- 

 tion of whole parts in disease, arises from 

 several causes, but those we have principally 

 to contend with, either arise from the parts 

 becoming bruised, or from constitutional irri- 

 tability. 



Ulceration, or, in other words, absorption, 

 takes i)lace much more readily in the cellular 

 and adipose substance, than in muscles, ten- 

 dons, nerves, and blood-vessels. Hence, in 

 the progress of pus to the skin or surface of 

 the body, ulceration often takes a circuitous 

 course. The skin itself being highly organ- 



217 



