298 STABLE MANUAL AND HORSE DOCTOR 



sliced off in the old way of farriers, but extirpated by a 

 single cut, or by ligature or torsion. Torsion is a good 

 method, and not so painful as might be supposed ; for the 

 polypus has little sensibility under the knife or scissors. 

 A pair of scissors, with sharp curved claws, are sold by 

 surgical instrument makers for this purpose. The polypus 

 is grasped by these claws, which are then drawn down to 

 get a tirm hold, and twisted round several times ; this 

 twists the stalk, or peduncle, and ruptures it, when it 

 comes away. 



The twisting should be done quickly, and the bows of the 

 scissors secured together by a piece of soft wire as soon as a 

 good grip of the tumour is got by the claws. Ligature is 

 more tedious ; but there is no bleeding. It is, however, 

 doubtful whether it is less painful than torsion. The 

 ligature is a piece of fine zinc wire, a yard and a half long, 

 doubled, and the two free ends passed down a small tube, 

 leaving a loop at the doubled end large enough to put over 

 the polypus ; then draw the loop tight on the neck or stalk 

 of the polypus, and secure it to a cross piece of wood at the 

 bottom of the tube. The horse is to be carefully reined up, 

 and next day the tumour will feel cold ; if not, give the 

 cross piece another turn, and tighten the wire. Watch the 

 tumour, and, when it appears quite dead, twist the pedicle 

 gently, and it will give way. 



NASAL GLEET. 



This distressing affliction must not be confounded with 

 glanders. Horses taken up from grass are found with the 

 bones of the face swollen and soft. A blow on the facial 

 bones is sometimes the cause. Pus gathers in the cavities 

 of the turbinated bone, and there corrupts. In extreme 

 cases these cavities may be cleansed by the use of the 

 trophine, by which a circular piece of bone is cut out ; an 

 elastic probe, armed with a tape, inserted and brought out 

 at the nostril, thus establishes a seton, or gives a passage to 

 syringe out the pus. To describe such a purely professional 

 operation in a compendium like this would be out of place. 

 When nasal gleet, however, will not yield to medicine, dilute 

 injections of warm water and chloride of zinc, or of creosote, 

 the animal is valueless, and should be destroyed. 



The ball recommended in this disease is copaiba balsam, 



