Local Injuries. 247 



Treatment. By sutures in the sound parts, or many- 

 tailed bandage, after all foreign bodies are removed. 

 Dressing as for preceding kind ; also febrifuges if 

 required. 



Contused wounds are the result of severe blows, falls, 

 &c., by which great damage is done to the soft parts. 



Treatment consists of incessant fomentations as de- 

 scribed at page 167, followed by liniments of camphor, 

 turpentine, or ammonia, to recover vascular action. 

 Scarification also may be called for. 



Punctured wounds also form a dangerous, as well as 

 tedious class, as none can tell with accuracy how far the 

 instrument has penetrated, or what deeper seated tissues 

 are involved. The most severe fever is to be expected. 

 In shoeing we have examples of this class, modified by 

 circumstances. In one instance the nail is driven through 

 a portion of the sensitive structures where it remains 

 until acute lameness or suppuration is established. In 

 another, the sensitive parts are wounded but the nail is 

 withdrawn, when dirt and moisture enter and set up 

 irritation. Gathered nails, picked up on the road, are 

 found embedded in the frog or one of the commissures, 

 sometimes penetrating the joint within and terminating 

 fatally. The usual method of testing foot lameness is by 

 exerting pressure with the pincers or tapping the foot 

 with the hammer. 



Treatment. Remove the offending instrument or 

 foreign bodies at once when present. Flesh wounds may 

 require incision, and healing fluids must be injected by 

 means of a syringe. When joints are punctured, the 

 orifice being small, it may usually be closed by slight 

 touches with the actual cautery or budding iron, giving 

 the animal perfect rest with fixing of the joint. In punc- 

 tures of the feet the shoe must be removed, the offending 

 nail being withdrawn at the same time. Having dis- 

 covered the spot, the hole is to be carefully widened by 

 the small knife called the " searcher," in order to evacuate 

 any pus which may have formed or burrowed, together 

 with all dead horn. Cover with a hot poultice frequently 

 renewed until pain is removed. Apply tincture of myrrh 



