CLEAN CUTS PUNCTtTRED WOUNDS. 885 



gree obviated by the application of a splint, which may bo 

 made of a slip of stiff leather well wetted, so as to be easily 

 adapted to the form of the limb. It is intended to impede 

 the motion of the leg, which occasions the gaping of the 

 wound, and must therefore be made to pass over one or more 

 joints as circumstances may require. A bandage must be 

 placed over to make everything secure. 



CLEAN CUTS. 



Clean cuts, as every one knows, heal readily in a healthy 

 animal, seldom demanding above three dressings ; lacera- 

 tions, on the other hand, require a longer period for their 

 reparation, inasmuch as the process which nature goes 

 throuoh is more complicated. In the former, the parts are 

 speedily glued together, so soon almost as in contact, and 

 the union is generally complete within the first thirty-six 

 hours. Not so, however, with the latter. Here the parts 

 are bruised, torn, and perhaps to a considerable extent want- 

 ing. Some of the bruised portions may die, and are of 

 course to be renewed. This is a process requiring a great 

 effort on the part of the vital powers, which are often inade- 

 quate to the task, and on this account we ought, when ihe 

 injury is severe, to sacrifice the animal rather than run the 

 risk of its dying during the process of the attempted cure. 

 To replace the lost part, suppuration or the formation of 

 matter commences ; while under cover of this, a crop of 

 fleshy particles (granulations) rise to fill the vacancy. 

 Granulations are best promoted by warm emollient applica- 

 tions, such as poultices of oatmeal, linseed meal, or barley 

 flour, which ought to be frequently renewed to prevent their 

 becoming cold or dry. When the granulations become too 

 luxuriant, and rise, as they are apt to do, above the level of 

 the skin, the poultices must be laid aside, the sore washed 

 once or twice a day with a solution of sulphate of copper, 

 (made by dissolving two or three drachms of blue vitriol in 

 a pint of sol't water), and covered carefully over with a little 

 fine tow, spread with lard, or any simple ointment, by which 

 means, conjoined with cleanliness, a cure will easily be ac- 

 complished. 



PUNCTURED WOUNDS. 



The orifice being small in these, and the depth consider- 

 able, the sides are apt to adhere irregularly, and preveat tJao 



83 



