SURGICAL OPEEATIONS. 305 



cases, inspired by a higher than ordinary sense of humanity) from 

 entertaining j^rofessional assistance. It is more than doubtful 

 whether the suffering creature does not go from bad to worse when 

 its case is made over to the tender mercies of the ignorant local cow- 

 leech, to Avhom " wolf in the tail " is a terrifying living presence 

 and "hollow horn"' a solid fact, and whose sole claim to erudition 

 in such matters consists of conceited ability to manufacture on 

 scientific prescriptions an artificial substitute for the cud supposed 

 to be " lost." 



There is yet another class of owners who entertain a blind belief 

 in liniments and patent nostrums, many of which are not only an 

 unnecessary expense, but may by their very action retard rather than 

 expedite the process by which nature repairs the injured tissues, 

 tendons, and bony structure. 



It should always be borne in mind that although some applications 

 are stimulating, and therefore serve as a useful ally in the process of 

 restoration, it is, after all, to nature we must look to renovate the 

 injured parts, and all that the most skillful can do is to aid her intel- 

 ligently b}^ combating those conditions which are calculated to inter- 

 fere with her beneficent endeavors. All that the most suitable appli- 

 cations can accomplish in the case of wounds is, in the fii-st place, to 

 prevent the access of those poisonous germs which exist in the sur- 

 roundings of the animal, such as the soil and the manure, and, in the 

 second place, wlien the process of repair is for some reason tempo- 

 rarily inactive or altogether arrested, to incite that curative inflam- 

 mation which is the invariable method by which the cure is effected. 



Some owners may urge that it has always been their practice to use 

 some shotgun prescription that has earned for itself a reputation, 

 because it was supposed to have routed a rash on the youngest baby, 

 and proved equally efficacious on a wire cut on the last-dropped calf, 

 without even pausing to think that either case might have done 

 equally well or even better if confided unanointed to the healing 

 hands of Nature. 



For the purposes of the present work wounds may be divided into 

 three classes: (1) Incised; (2) punctured; (3) lacerated or contused. 



Incised wound. — This is one with clean-cut edges, and may be 

 either superficial or deep. In wounds of all descriptions there is 

 necessarily more or less bleeding, and this is especially liable to be 

 the case in incised wounds, particularly when they penetrate to a 

 considerable depth, or when inflicted on a part where arteries of nnj 

 size approach the surface. To arrest the hemorrhage must there- 

 fore be the first consideration. If slight, a generous use of cold water 

 will be all that is necessary, but if one or more vessels of any size 

 have been wounded or entirely severed, they should be taken up and 

 ligated. If the blood flows continuously and is dark in color, it pro- 

 16923°— 12 20 



