586 AMPUTATIONS. 



frame ; but veterinary surgery now takes a wider field, and 

 the extremities are amputated with a certainty of making 

 horned cattle still serviceable for the purposes of yielding 

 milk ; and without doubt the same might be done with the 

 brood mare, or stallion, particularly in fractures of the fore 

 extremities. Professor Dick, of the Edinburgh Veterinary 

 College, furnishes a case sent to him by one of his pupils to 

 the following effect : ' I performed amputation upon the 

 cow on the 7th of July ; after having properly secured the 

 animal, and applied a tourniquet above the carpus, I made 

 a circular incision through the integuments round the leg, 

 a little below the carpus ; and having separated the skin so 

 as to allow of its being pushed up a little, I cut through 

 the sinews, and lastly sawed off the stump : the parts are 

 now completely whole, although she has been going at grass 

 ail the time ; and, now that she has got the advantage of a 

 cork stump, makes a wonderful shift for herself, and yields 

 a good supply of milk to her owner.' Mr. Dick also notices 

 another case of amputation of the fore leg of a two-year 

 old heifer ; and of a third, where the hind leg was removed 

 above the tarsus. Such operations have occasionally oc- 

 curred from time immemorial, with a few enterprising cha- 

 racters. We have heard of them, but they were mostly 

 regarded as mere matters of curiosity or wonder ; and there- 

 fore were not imitated. We shall, however, probably ere 

 long have them more common, in cows at least ; for, oc- 

 curring below the carpus and tarsus, they are as easily 

 performed as nicking or docking : and there is no doubt 

 bat were a hollow padded stump applied, such low opera- 

 tions might be prudent in many cases. Fractures, with 

 great comminution of bone, considerable ravages of disease 

 within the foot, or extensive gangrene, are the cases which 

 might call for amputation. Of the method of amputation 

 little need be added to the above. The principal practical 

 points are, the fixing of a tourniquet of sufficient force, 

 which should be padded to make its principal pressure on 

 the leading arterial trunks, while its general circumference 

 will act on the smaller vessels : a ring should be cut lightly 

 below the intended place of operation ; only through the 

 integuments ; which, when separated from their cellular ad- 

 hesions for about six inches, should be turned back ; and a 



