CHAPTER III 

 WOUNDS. 



General remarks o?i the Treatment of Wounds. StitKres, Antiseptic 

 Applications. Brushing and Speedy Cuttings Sore Back, Sitfasty 

 Harness Galls. Broken Knees. 



GENERAL REMARKS ON THE TREATMENT OF WOUNDS, 

 SUTURES, ANTISEPTIC APPLICATIONS. 



The subject to which we now call the attention of our readers, is one of 

 universal interest. All horsemen should have some accurate knowledge of 

 the usual scientific methods of treating the commoner and less severe kinds 

 of wounds. 



With the object of being more precise in our description of wounds, we 

 may conveniently divide them as follows : — incised, or made with a cutting 

 instrument, punctured, lacerated, bruised, and finally, those caused by 

 firearms. We might also add poisoned wounds to this list. 



A minute description of the ways in which wounds are healed, would 

 doubtless be of great interest to some of our readers ; but, as we fear this 

 would not prove of much practical value, we shall forthwith proceed to 

 consider the best methods to be adopted for promoting the repair of the 

 injured tissues. It is well known, that the power of repairing lost tissues and 

 the healing of wounds, is much greater and more rapid in some of the lower 

 than it is in the higher animals, such as the horse and ox. If a crab or 

 lobster have the misfortune to lose a limb, this can again be reproduced ; 

 whereas, as we ascend the scale of animal life, the faculty of restoring a lost 

 member gradually disappears, and is finally lost altogether. Nevertheless, 

 the healing of injuries of a very severe and extensive kind, is of daily 

 occurrence in horses and other animals. Our methods of treatment of 

 to-day are in accordance with the dictates of practical science, and more 

 especially with those discoveries which, intimately associated with the name 

 of Sir Joseph Lister, have shown the supreme value of great cleanliness and 

 antiseptic applications. Our forefathers, unfortunately, had no knowledge 

 of those tiny little fungi spoken of as germs. Certain organisms, floating 

 about in the air around us, find their way into wounds, and thrive and 

 ferment the more, as they find the raw surfaces unclean and unhealthy, and 



