OPEN JOINT. 217 



one of the measures abhorrent to all modern surgery ; 

 and, therefore, it is wrong to apply a bandage after 

 using the iron. The hot iron, moreover, is a most de- 

 structive tool. If it does no good, it must do harm ; 

 and consequently it should rarely be found in the hands 

 of the Veterinary Surgeon who has to deal with other 

 people's property. 



A simple bandage kept moist with cold water, and 

 retained on for ten or twelve days, has m rare instances 

 effected a cure ; but such an application has far 

 oftener failed, and so have many other things, for the 

 applications used to open joints are very numerous. 

 Quicklime; alum ; sulphate of copper ; the bichloride 

 of mercury dissolved in spirits of wine; and nearly 

 every astringent and caustic, mild or powerful, have 

 been tried in turns; and all are reported to have 

 been successful. All, however, are too well known 

 to have frequently failed. The caustics require to be 

 repeatedly applied ; that is, they must be resorted to 

 as often as the joint-oil appears. And not unseldom, 

 by destroying the surrounding structures, they enlarge 

 the orifice which they were intended to plug up; 

 thus aggravating the very evil they were employed to 

 remedy. 



No poultice or ointment should be applied to an 

 open joint ; the simple object to be pursued is to close 

 the opening. This such applications will retard. 

 Knowing they have that effect, some persons use 

 them in doubtful cases ; that the poultice may aggra- 

 vate the lesion, and, if the joint be opened, not allow 

 the oil to escape. This is a cruel folly, and should 

 never be practised. In every suspicious case the 



