FACTS OF GENERAL INTEREST 125 



varjdng in colour from red to green and from green to 

 brown, according to the irritant employed for the purpose. 

 Before a part is blistered the hair should be clipped off, 

 the skin washed with warm water and soap, dried, and the 

 blistering ointment then rubbed well in. Both blistering 

 and firing produce a variable degree of inflammatory 

 action in the skin and subjacent tissues depending upon 

 the degree of application. Firing, or the application of 

 the actual cautery, is more severe in its effects than that 

 of a bhster, but sometimes the action of both is combined ; 

 thus, for instance, the area involved is fired with the firing 

 iron and the blister then lightly smeared over the bound 

 surface. Deep firing, though surgical, seems to be cruel 

 unless the animal has been put under a general anaesthetic 

 in order to produce complete narcosis. Both firing and 

 blistering are resorted to in cases of spavin, spKnt, sprung 

 tendon, ring-bone, side-bone, curve and a host of other 

 troubles. 



A part can be fired either in points or in lines. For 

 splint and spavin point firing is generally resorted to, 

 but the degree of severity or otherwise varies. After a 

 horse has been blistered or fired it should be tied up short 

 for twenty-four hours, or if turned out to graze, it is 

 advisable to fix a cradle on, so as to prevent the animal 

 biting the part and bhstering its nose. When a Hmb is 

 blistered or fired in any particular part, the hollow of the 

 fetlock should be freely smeared with lard or vaseline. It 

 is not a good plan to blister the flexous surface of the 

 joint or immediately beneath the throat, as the skin is 

 apt to crack and become very sore. To soothe a blistered 

 surface, apply the carron oil, recommended elsewhere 

 in this book. It consists of equal parts of lime water and 

 linseed oil, shaken together. 



Fomentation 



Fomentation comprises the application of hot or cold 

 water to a given area and it may be for the reduction of 



