182 THE STOCK owner's ADVISER. 



ged, the flind would burst out at some other place. The wound 

 should be irrigated with a solution of corrosive sublimate, one to 

 five hundred parts of water, to destroy all germs that may have 

 gained entrance, and bandaged. If the bandage causes no incon- 

 venience, it should be allowed to remain until the wound heals. 

 Experience warrants me in recommending a blister applied to 

 the whole surface of the joint. The coagulum of synovia which 

 accumulates upon the wound should never be removed, as it pre- 

 vents the admission of air and germs to the wound. If the pus 

 is of a sanious or fetid character, the best results to be hoped 

 for is anchylosis, which renders the animal unfit for further use. 

 All cases of open joint require a long period of rest after the 

 wound has healed, and it is generally necessary to l)lister re- 

 peatedly, or even fire, to remove the inflammation. The food 

 should be spare, light, and cooling; but when the fever has 

 abated it should be more nourishing. 



DROPSY OF THE JOINT, OR HYDROPS ARTICULORUM. 



This disease is a morbid condition, with or without inflamma- 

 tion, as in bog spavin and its analogues, termed wind galls. In 

 this affection there is an over-abundance of serous synovia, which 

 distends the whole joint or bursse. There is generally not much 

 lameness. The quantity of secretion varies, disappearing and 

 reappearing on exercise or rest. Young growing cart horses 

 show these fluid enlargements about the hocks. 



The treatment is the application of blisters and pressure, but 

 this will be again referred to in another chapter. 



ANCHYLOSIS, OR THE STIFFENING OF JOINTS. 



There are four forms of anchylosis — osseous, true fibrous, 

 ligamentous, and spurious. True anchylosis is complete at every 

 part of the joint, as in some ringbones and spavins. All trace 

 of the articulation is lost, and the bones so firmly united as to 

 appear as one bone. An ulcerative absorption takes place in the 



