375 



1084. Firing is performed by specially made instruments, which are heated in the 

 fire to a deep red heat, and lines are drawn over the diseased part with the hot 

 iron, or the part is punctured by a pointed instrument made hot. The operation 

 can also be done by electricity with the thermo-cautery. Firing hurries on the 

 process of reparative inflammation in disease of the bones, tendons, and joints, 

 and also increases the power of absorption. 



10S5. Fomentations are accomplished by warm, soothing agents, applied to a 

 damaged or diseased part, and mainly consist of warm water, to which medical 

 agents may be added, according to circumstances. The process can be 

 performed by simply bathing the parts with a sponge or cloth, applying 

 woollen rugs wrung out of hot water, and by poultices, or spongio-piline. 



1086. Fumigations are now extensively employed for the destruction of disease 

 producing germs, parasitic pests, and for disinfecting stables and other buildings. 

 The agents mostly used for fumigations are : chlorine gas, iodine, sulphur and 

 formalin fumes,. Chlorine gas is liberated by mixing equal parts of common 

 salt and black oxide of manganese in an earthenware jar, to which is added tw-o 

 parts each of oil of vitriol and water. Sulphur fumes are generated by burning 

 roU sulphur in an old pan, or sulphur candles. Iodine fumigations are made by 

 putting from one to more drachms of iodine on a piece of hot iron or hot brick. 

 Formalin tablets are placed in a special crucible, and by the aid of a spirit 

 lamp the fumes are liberated. When fumigating buildings all the animals must be 

 removed, and the openings, windows and doors tightly closed ; after the 

 fumigation the doors, windows, and ventilators must be freely opened before the 

 animals are again admitted. 



1087. Hypodermic Injections. — The method of giving medicine by injecting it 

 through the skin, is one of the greatest boons in medical science, and is now 

 largely practised. It is found that by injecting certain medicinal agents in solution 

 — which for this purpose are very numerous— under the skin, they establish 

 their action more quickly than when they are inhaled bj' the lungs. They are 

 carried direct into the blood without undergoing any chemical changes, which 

 they are very apt to do when given by the mouth. The operation is very simple, 

 and is perforrried by the aid of a graduated glass-barrelled syringe, with a fine 

 hollow needle, fitted on to the nozzle of the syringe. The instrument in all 

 cases must be kept scrupulously clean. The most convenient places for 

 inserting the needle and injecting the medicine are in front of the breast or 

 behind the elbow, where the skin is fine and thin. 



1088. Inhalations are mostly used for soothing or stimulating the cavities of the 

 head and air passages, also for the destruction of parasites in the wind pipe and 

 bronchial tubes. For cold in the head, laryngitis, and bronchitis, they are 



