152 



ACCIDENTS AND OPERATIONS. 



a little care, is readily accomplished, the only difficulty 

 being to retain them in the desired position. They 

 may be held in contact either by stitches, (sutures,) 

 plasters, or bandages, or by a union of the three. 

 Stitches are only required when the wound gapes to a 

 considerable extent, as it will always do when running 

 across a muscle. They may be applied in the follow- 

 ing manner. Transfix one side of the wound with a 

 curved needle (armed with a well waxed thread) forcing 

 the needle from without obliquely towards the bottom 

 of the wound, then carry it through the opposite side 

 from within, taking care to bring it out about the same 

 distance from the edge as that at which it entered on 

 the other margin. The needle must now be removed, 

 by cutting the threads close to its eye, and while the 

 ends are allowed to hang loose, the same operation 

 should be repeated, at the distance of an inch or an 

 inch and a half from the first stitch, as often as the 

 length of the wound may render necessary. Your 

 assistant will now bring the sides of the wound toge- 

 ther as accurately as possible, and retain them there 

 till you have tied the corresponding ends of the threads 

 in a double knot. 



(109.) Bandaging. Adhesive plaster is in some 

 instances of service, but upon the whole ought rather 

 to be dispensed with, being of difficult application, and 

 moreover tending to the accumulation of filth and the 

 discomfort of the animal. Nothing will be found to 

 serve the purpose of supporting the parts so well as a 

 properly adjusted bandage, which is useful in every 

 instance, and sure to stay on if sewed here and there 

 to the fleece. The bandage should never be omitted 



