366 SURGICAL OPERATIONS^ 



quickly divltlecl by a drawing kind of a stroke. This is necessary 

 that the nerve may be divided with as little violence as possible: 

 for, when it is done with scissors, or by lifting the knife directly 

 up, or with a knife that does not cut well, a thickening will re- 

 main at the upper extremity of the divided nerve, with consider- 

 able tenderness ; and when this happens to be struck in going, 

 it gives the horse intolerable pain, and makes him go lame for a 

 short time. The nerve cannot be divided with too keen an in- 

 strument, or too gently. The division of the nerve causes great 

 but momentary pain, like that of an electric shock, apparently, 

 and the horse's struggling at that moment must be guarded 

 against : but as soon as it is done, the pain of the operation may 

 be considered as over : the inferior portion of nerve is then to 

 be laid hold of by the forceps, and from an inch to an inch and 

 a half cut out. The skin may be closed with one stitcli, for no 

 bandage or dressing is required. For the first four days, the 

 leg should be sponged several times a day with tepid water ; on 

 the fifth the stitches will give way and the wound will open, 

 but this must not be attended to. No kind of dressing is neces- 

 sary ; the wound will be completely healed in four weeks, and 

 then, or even a week before this time, the horse may be turned 

 to grasS; and there he may be kept three weeks or longer.* 



* The horse being cast by the method before advised with the leg to be 

 operated upon uppermost, the cross straps are to buckled on, the web ap- 

 ])lied to the foot just above the heels of the shoe, which being then released 

 from the hobble is drawn forwards by an assistant, so that by the cross straps 

 pulling in one direction and the web the other, the leg is brought jierfectly 

 straisht. A truss of straw covered with a horse-cloth, or a bag; stuffed with 

 straw, is then to be interposed under the leg to be operated on, so as to afford 

 it a firm and secure resting-place; and a piece of tape may be tied tightly 

 round the leg, just below the knee, so as to diminish sensation. The operator 

 having all his instruments in readiness, will find it convenient to kneel on one 

 knee. In a very well-bred horse the pulsation of the artery on the inside of 

 the leg may be seen, and, in most horses, felt in the hollow between the flexor 

 tendons and suspensory ligament. Having felt it, a free vertical incision is 

 to be made, with a convex-edged scalpel, about two inches and a half above 

 the fetlock joint, and slightly posterior to the artery. The incision by a 

 second application of the knife is to be lengthened to about an inch and a 

 quarter. A little cellular membrane may next be removed by means of the 

 knife and forceps, so as to distinguish the artery from the nerve. The quan- 

 tity of cellular membrane necessary to be removed will depend on the breed 

 of the horse, and the state of the legs ; if they are very clean, it is scarcely 

 necessary to remove any ; and the less taken away the better, and the sooner 

 will the wound heal. 



Having clearly made out the nerve and artery, a curved needle threaded is 

 to be passed under the nerve at the upper part of the incision ' ; the thread 



1 I have found that the facility of the operation may be much increased 

 by using a curved needle, ])ointed like a lancet, and with cutting edges for 

 the space of half an inch in length from the point where the width of tlie 

 needle should be about one-sixth of an inch. The act of passing such needle 

 will open a passage large enough for a small bistoury to be passed under, by 

 which the nerve may be divided. — Ed. 



