\ 



238 Diseases of the Horse. 



No attempt should be made to open the swelling unless 

 pus ean be distinctly felt, when it cannot be done too prompt- 

 ly. A free cut should be made, the wound kept open for 

 about a w^eek, the part fomented, and the j)us gently pressed 

 out. 



Often the case is first seen when the pus has burrowed into 



the neck, making long fistulas or pipes. Here the treatment 



is difficult. The fistulas must be freely opened to their ends 



by a sharp scalpel, the bone scraped, if diseased, and the 



whole thoroughly washed and syringed every day with a 



cleansing and stimulating lotion, as — 



No. 259. Chloride of zinc, 30 grains. 



Water, . 1 quart. 



Or, 



No. 260. Tincture of the chloride of iron, 1 oz. 



Water, 1 quart. 



When the joint is attacked, the case is desperate, and the 

 animal may as well be killed. 



In less severe cases setons inserted from the original open- 

 ing along the track and down to the bottom of the fistulas, 

 and then brought out u^Jon the opposite side of the poll, are 

 very successful, and do away with the necessity of using the 

 knife. 



FISTULOUS WITHERS. 



This injury closely resembles poll evil. It is caused by 

 bruises from ill-fitting saddles, and those horses are most 

 liable to it who have high withers. 



Symptoms. — In the early stage there is an enlargement 

 of the heads of the spinous j^rocesses with heat and tenderness. 

 This continues and leads to the formation of an abscess; but 

 as, on account of the position of the withers at the top of the 

 horse in standing, the pus cannot escape, it sinks down- 

 ward, burrowing in between the skin and the muscles, or 



