WOUNDS, BKUISES, AND ABSCESS. 293 



such wounds, as might be expected ; and when they are found 

 to fail, lunar caustic should be applied ; and if the lameness still 

 continues, the part should be blistered. In dissecting the legs 

 of horses after death, that have been perfectly sound and free 

 from swelling, I have found thorns in different parts, lying flat, 

 and evidently harmless ; but I lately dissected the leg of a pony 

 that had been very lame, and found that the two flexor tendons 

 had formed adhesions immediately below the fetlock joint, evi- 

 dently from inflammation produced by a thorn ; for I found the 

 point of the thorn, though probably the accident had occurred 

 several months before. It is remarkable that the thorn was very 

 black, as if charred, and all the surrounding parts were nearly of 

 the same colour. 



\_Broken Knees 



May be so slight as to occasion little inconvenience, or so serious 

 as to I'ender the animal entirely useless. Between these extremes 

 there are a great variety of degrees. 



The knee consists of three separate articulations, the upper- 

 most of which is that between the radius or forearm and the 

 upper row of bones ; the next is that between the upper row 

 and the under ; and the third between the under row and the 

 cannon or shank. Thus there are three joints exposed to in- 

 jury, and [)laced very near the surface, being protected only by 

 tiie capsular ligament and the skin, and partially by the extensor 

 tendons. When the knee is bent, as it necessarily is when the 

 animal falls, the joints are opened to the utmost, and the skin 

 is drawn down : — this accounts for the fact that in broken knees 

 the wound appears to go do wai wards, and the internal injury 

 appears lower situated than the external one. A broken knee 

 may be confined to an injury of the skin, or the tendons may 

 be lacerated and even divided, or one of the joints may be 

 opened, and the bones greatly injured. Sometimes the liga- 

 ments of the knee are severely strained by the ftall. 



AVhen the injury is confined to the skin, and is not extensive, 

 the wound may be covered daily with the astringent ])owder or 

 paste, before recommended, and the knee frequently wetted 

 with a cooling lotion. A little work will not be injurious. 



If the wound be extensive, or the tendons injured, then after 

 fomenting the part, removing the dirt or gravel, and cutting off 

 any ragged parts, the knee may be poulticed for a few days, 

 taking care that the ligature which confines the stocking below 

 the knee should not be so tight as to produce mischief; the 

 poultice may be prevented from slipping down by tape or list 

 passing over the withers. In a few days the knee may be treated 

 in the same manner as another lacerated wound, but sometimes 

 it is very desirable to insert a seton through its lowest i)art. 



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