616 THE DISEASES AND DISORDERS OP THE OX. 



should be well washed out with warm water. Futhermore, in 

 the summer-time the ears of the sheep sometimes get into a 

 dreadful state if they are not attended to with great care, and 

 sometimes it may even happen that maggots may be bred 

 therein. Needless to relate, having once taken up their abode 

 in this organ, they work terrible havoc, to the great agony and 

 sujffering of their victim. Compassionate shepherds should 

 always take care that the ears of their sheep be kept as clean as 

 possible in the hot weather. 



SECTION XL— WOUNDS, FRACTURES, SPRAINS, 

 TUMOURS. 



WOUNDS. 



It will now be our endeavour to give to our readers some 

 useful and practical hints regarding a very important and 

 interesting subject. We propose to consider, as briefly as may 

 be consistent with the intricacy of our topic, the more ordinary 

 kinds of wounds and injuries which are apt to be met with from 

 time to time among oxen, and to mention some points in refe- 

 rence to the treatment which should be pursued. 



At times some difficulty may be experienced in deciding all at 

 once what is the best course to be taken, and it may be 

 said that a considerable amount of common-sense judgment is 

 requisite in order to manage as well as possible the many 

 different kinds of injuries with which one is liable to be 

 confronted in cattle practice. Some one has remarked that 

 common sense is falsely so called, because the kind of sense we 

 understand by that term is the rarest of all kinds of sense. It 

 has also been held that great ability merely consists in the 

 possession of what goes by the name of common sense in an 

 uncommon degree. 



However this may be, it is at any rate unfortunately true that 

 wounds in animals are not always well managed in accordance 

 with easily intelligible principles. Of course difficulties are 

 often met with. For instance, to the owner the question whether 

 treatment or slaughter is most advisable will continually pre- 



