116 LAMENESS OF THE HORSE 



the joint is thoroughly washed out with equal parts of tincture 

 of iodiu and chloroform. This is follo\\ed by the injection of a 

 quantity of seventy-five percent alcohol and the wound is dressed 

 and bandaged as already described. At each subsequent dressing 

 of infected wounds so treated less suppuration is noticed and 

 the synovial discharge usually ceases in from one to two months. 

 About ninciij percent of all cases of open joint make complete 

 recoveries, about four per cent partially recover and six per cent 

 are fatal. Among the fatal cases are the open joints with com- 

 plications as severed tendons, those occasioned by calk wounds 

 in horses that are stabled, and nail punctures of the feet. The 

 foUoAving report of twelve favorable cases is taken from a record 

 of sixty-two cases. The favorable ones are reported, chiefly 

 because there are now enough reports on record of such cases 

 which have terminated fatally. 



Case 1. — A gray gelding used as a saddle pony received a 

 horizontal wire cut laying completely bare the scapulohumeral 

 articulation. The margins of the wound were cleansed as here- 

 tofore described, a drainage was provided surgically, tincture of 

 iodin was injected and the wound was covered with equal parts 

 of boric acid and exsiccated alum. The iiorse was kept tied and 

 a diluted tincture of iodin was injected into the wound once 

 daily and the powder applied often enough to keep the wound 

 covered. The case made a complete recovery and the pony was 

 again in service within sixty days. 



Case 2. — A twelve-hundred-pound bay mare with an open car- 

 pal joint. The wound was an open one al)Out two and one-half 

 inches in length, and made transversely and when the member 

 was flexed the articular surface of the carpal bones were pre- 

 sented to view. An ounce of tincture of iodin was injected into 

 this joint after having cleansed the margin of the wound and 

 the mare was cross-tied in a single stall to keep her from lying 

 down. The owner was instructed to keep the outside of the 

 wound powdered with air slaked lime and a very unfavorable 

 prognosis was given. 



I heard nothing further from this case until fifty-nine days 

 from the date of the injury, when I met the owner driving this 

 mare to a buggy. The wound had healed by first intention and 

 at that time so little cicatrix remained that it was difficult to 

 find it. 



Case 3. — A brown mare with an open fetlock joint due to a 

 spike-nail puncture. Lameness was excessive, and joint greatly 

 swollen. Tincture of iodin was injected into the wound and 

 towels dipped in hot antiseptic solutions were applied for several 



