442 WOUNDS. 



but to prevent their being rubbed out, a neck cradle should 

 be worn, and the horse's head should be racked up to the 

 manger day and night. When it is necessary to perform 

 operations on the neck, by dilating an already existing 

 wound, the longitudinal direction of the muscular ' fibres 

 should direct the section, and due regard should also be paid 

 to the surrounding nerves and bloodvessels. 



Wounds of the chest, when they take place in the muscular 

 and integumental parts of the chest, must be treated like 

 other external wounds. When the lungs are punctured, 

 life will, in the majority of instances, be sacrificed ; for 

 should the hsemorrhage not destroy, fatal inflammation will 

 follow. These wounds are distinguished by the air rushing 

 out at the orifice, and by the scarlet hue of the haemor- 

 rhage. 



Ruptured diaphragm. — A lesion of this important mus- 

 cular septum is a more frequent termination of the life of 

 many horses than is supposed. Death, of course, is a 

 speedy and inevitable consequence. 



Wounds of the abdomen. — These, when external, must be 

 treated after the manner of wounds in general ; observing 

 whether the injury be a puncture of the cavity ; that 

 none of the viscera are wounded, and no protrusion occurs ; 

 when no means are more likely to shut up the opening 

 effectually than the twisted suture. But when the cavity 

 has been more deeply penetrated, and there is reason to 

 fear that some viscus is injured, the treatment must conse- 

 quently be rendered more complex, and the danger propor- 

 tionate : when such a wound has happened, the extent of it 

 should be carefully examined, that we may learn what 

 viscera are likely to be injured ; in which examination we 

 shall be aided much by a previous knowledge of the dif- 

 ferent regions, and the viscera that occupy them. If any 

 of these be protruded, carefully replace them ; unless they 

 should have become mortified, in which case the animal 

 had better be slain. It has been recommended, in case the 

 external wound be large, to stitch the intestine to it, in 

 preference to letting it float loose in the abdomen, which, 

 as will be again noticed, particular circumstances may ren- 

 der eligible. The external wound may be drawn together 



