486 BEOKEN KNEES. 



secure, and in order to do tliis, it will be necessary to place 

 sponges both above and below the joint ; tben, while an assistant 

 holds the splint evenly to its place, bandage it firmly to the 

 limb — leaving, as before, the wound exposed ; after which, 

 buckle the straps, and the operation is complete. 



In the course of a few hours, sympathetic fever will 

 generally set in, the severity of which will depend upon cir- 

 cumstances — such as the extent of the injury, the susceptibiHty 

 of the patient, and the treatment which afterwards may be 

 pursued. So soon, however, as the animal becomes restless, 

 commence bathing the limb with cold water ; then it is that the 

 value of the sponges will become evident — the object being, by 

 constantly wetting them with cold water, to maintain the knee 

 at a cool temperature, and thus keep down the fever so far as it 

 may be caused by inflammation arising from the wound. The 

 mere bandaging, however, of the limb, and maintaining it in a 

 rigid, straight position, for days together, will produce con- 

 siderable fever to nervous and excitable horses. 



Cold water may be applied to the sponges occasionally by 

 pouring it between the bandages and the limb ; or if it would 

 be better to have it flowing upon the sponges uninterruptedly, 

 for two or three hours in succession, adopt the following simple 

 arrangement : — Procure a large tin vessel, having a strong 

 moveable handle ; at the bottom part of the vessel solder a 

 small tube, with a tap attached ; flll this vessel with cold water, 

 and hang it up at the side of the stall, higher from the ground 

 than the head of the patient. Procure also three or four yards 

 of india rubber tubing, of a quarter of an inch diameter, one 

 end of which slip over the pipe soldered to the bottom of the 

 tin vessel, while into the lower end insert a few inches of copper 

 or tin piping ; tie it and the india-rubber tube (the copper pipe 

 within the india-rubber tube) securely together ; after which, 



