WOUNDS AND INJUHIES — TREATMENT. 4G3 



small injury, unimportant to all appearance, will sometimes 

 produce systemic effects of a very severe nature — such as a 

 violent condition of inflammatory fever, or a violent form of 

 tetanus ; these are common consequences. 



When called in to treat a wound, the veterinary surgeon 

 should take cognizance of its condition. By this I mean, he 

 should note whether it be a smaU, large, lacerated, contused, or 

 a punctured wound. Is it deep or superficial ? Does it bleed 

 profusely ? Is it associated with fracture of one or more of 

 the bones ? To what depth does it extend, and in what direc- 

 tion does it run ? Is there within it any foreign body — such 

 as a piece of stone, a splinter of wood, particles of sand, or a 

 piece of broken glass ? All these and many more are matters 

 to determine, and are comprised in what we term the condition 

 of the injury. 



Should the hemorrhage be copious, the bleeding vessel 

 should at once be got at, and made secure by tying a strong 

 ligature of silk around it. The colour of the blood, and the 

 manner in which it issues forth, will be sufficient to determine 

 the character of the vessel injured. If the blood be of a bright 

 scarlet colour, and if it issues in partially interrupted jets, the 

 vessel injured will be an artery ; while the size of the current 

 will afibrd some indication of its calibre. In searching for a 

 blood-vessel, a large, soft sponge is necessary to dab upon the 

 part where the bleeding vessel may be. 



Having secured the bleeding vessel, the next duty is to 

 remove any extraneous substance which may be present. 

 Foreign bodies may be taken away with the common forceps : 

 but to remove sand and small grit, the best instrument is a 

 powerful syringe — similar to the one shown at Tig. 16, p. 157 — 

 which fill with tepid water, and send the contents forcibly upon 

 any part where the grit may lodge, the object being to wash it 



