588 FIRING. 



FIRING. 



The practice of firing was not always confined to quadru- 

 peds ; on the contrary, it probably was first used on 

 man ; and to this day in many countries it is a very 

 popular remedy among human surgeons. In India it is 

 applied over the abdomen for the cure of scirrhosity of the 

 liver. Firing in veterinary practice has, by Mr. Coleman's 

 pupils, been justified as only men will justify a favourite 

 operation, the virtues of which have been impressed upon 

 their minds by an eloquent teacher. When Coleman was 

 the chief of the veterinary profession, firing under his 

 rule was used for any and every occasion. It was ridi- 

 culously supposed to act as a permanent bandage ; as if a 

 few strokes with a heated iron could destroy the elastic 

 property inherent in the skin. It was the favourite styptic 

 of these practitioners, and was applied to arteries (as of the 

 tail), as though it possessed within itself some medicinal 

 virtue. It was used to promote absorption, as in callus ; 

 and was likewise resorted to to check absorption, as in 

 ulceration. It was called into action to promote granulation, 

 in broken knees ; and was also a favourite agent to check 

 granulations, when they were too luxuriant. In short, 

 there was no folly which a hot iron did not cover. It has 

 now happily fallen into disuse. Most modern practitioners 

 will now confess that their chief reason for exercising the 

 iron is to satisfy the proprietor, not to benefit the animal. 

 After such an acknowledgment, who would submit to have 

 his patient servant's skin scored and burnt with red hot 

 metal ? 



The mode of cauterization differs according to circum- 

 stances. As a general rule it ought, of course, to be applied 

 in the direction of the hair, by which the blemish is lessened ; 

 but this rule cannot be arbitrarily followed, although it 

 ought to do away with all the false pride of displaying the 

 taste in the figures scored upon a prostrate beast. The 

 Veterinary College recommends that the limbs be always 

 fired in perpendicular lines ; others advocate all manner of 

 fanciful marks. Some cast the horse ; many surgeons perform 

 standing. The irons used are of various shapes and dimen- 

 sions. Some recommend the firing of all things to be very 



