246 Local Injuries, 



CHAPTER XXVII. 

 LOCAL INJURIES. 



Wounds— Bruises— Poll Evil— Fistula of the "Withers— Speedy-cut— Quittor 

 — Broken Knees — Wounds of Arteries and Veins. 



The affections due to injuries in the horse form an 

 unusually extended list, and, to do them justice, volumes 

 might be written upon each department. Some attempt 

 has been made to deal with them somewhat extensively 

 in a much larger work,* to which the reader is referred 

 for more copious description. 



Wounds of the Flesh. — Of these, four different 

 kinds are recognised, viz., incised, lacerated, contused, and 

 punctured. 



Incised wounds are produced by some cutting instru- 

 ment, by which the skin, &c, is evenly divided and 

 without loss of substance. Profuse haemorrhage is not 

 an uncommon accompaniment, as bloodvessels are likely 

 to be opened. Simple wounds are closed by sutures, 

 such as pins, which are passed from the lip on one side 

 to the other, and secured by soft twine ; by strong thread 

 used in a needle, making stitches as in ordinary sewing, 

 finally securing the thread to prevent it being drawn out. 

 The usual dressings are astringents, as Nos. i and 2. 

 Febrifuges when fever calls for them. 



Lacerated wounds are caused by tearing, as when hooks, 

 nails, the horns of cattle, &c, enter the skin, the edges 

 being ragged and uneven. Such wounds inflicted in the 

 abdominal walls produce permanent ventral hernia, or, 

 when the skin is divided, the contents are allowed to 

 escape, when fatal results follow. Such wounds are often 

 devoid of vitality, and subsequent sloughing is not un- 

 common, which retards recovery. 



* " Every Man his own Horse Doctor." London and New York : 

 Frederick Warne & Co. 868 pp. and upwards of 300 illustrations. 

 Price 2 1 j» ^ 



