HORSE MANAGEMENT, ETC. 393 



j w. It is well-known that lock-jaw more frequently ensues 

 from a punctured wound than a clean cut or incision ; yet when 

 nicking or pricking, after the American fashion, (if care be taken 

 to make the orifice through the skin sufficiently large, so that pus, 

 afterward secreted, may escape,) I think there is no danger. The 

 danger arises from the imprisonment of pus by closure of the 

 orifice in the skin. In healthy subjects the orifice made through 

 the skin will often unite in the course of a few hours ; then, should 

 morbid matter accumulate within the substance of the tail, it bur- 

 rows, forms an abscess, or else becomes absorbed, producing lock- 

 jaw. Therefore, I would advise persons having pricked or nicked 

 horses under their care, to pay strict attention to such, and see 

 that the orifices are kept open, which may easily be done by oc- 

 casionally inserting the point of a penknife. The skin should be 

 the last to heal. The healing process must be perfected in the 

 interior first, and, lastly, the skin. Should fungus or " proud 

 flesh " appear, apply powdered bloodroot, burnt alum, or red pre- 

 cipitate. When an abscess forms at the base of the tail after 

 pricking, apply a poultice of flaxseed; and when the tail is much 

 inflamed and swollen, it should be bathed frequently with the 

 following : 



No. 62. Acetic acid 1 part. 



Water 7 parts. 



Mix. 



"When horses are nicked in warm weather, the tail should be 

 moistened with tincture of aloes ; this will keep the flies off. 



Persons who are not experts in the art of pricking are apt to 

 wound, and sometimes completely sever the coccygeal arteries, 

 thereby causing an unnecessary and dangerous hemorrhage. In 

 such cases, I should advise the operator to crowd into the orifice 

 a small piece of dry sponge. This will arrest the hemorrhage, 

 and, at the same time, keep the divided ends of the muscles apart, 

 so that they can not reunite ; hence it is not necessary to put the 

 tail into pulleys for some hours, or until bleeding has ceased. 

 When this is the case, the sponge may be removed by means of 

 a small pair of forceps. 



The success in securing what is denominated a fashionable tail 

 depends altogether on the skill of the operator, who must make 

 a complete division of the muscles beneath the tail only, as their 

 action is to compress and depress that useful appendage; for. 



