84 



WOUNDS AND BRUISES. 



TREATMENT. — If the wound be just above the heels,, our chief 

 object will be to prevent moisture getting on the part, which is so 

 akin to horn that the action of water on it would tend to decompose 

 it. Hence, we should remove any jagged ends that may be present, 

 as the fluid resulting from their decomposition would irritate the 

 wound ; and we may apply tincture of myrrh, tincture of arnica, or 

 the carbolic and camphor application given on page 69. The 

 spirit contained in these agents, will, on evaporating, leave a resin- 

 ous covering which will exclude damp, and will also stimulate and 

 dry up the cut. If these applications be not at hand, we may use 

 a saturated solution of camphor in turpentine, turpentine (p. 68), 

 or ordinary spirits. The part should be kept dry and should not be 

 washed. When the over-reach is just above the heels, the horn 

 which is immediately below the wound, should be pared thin, so as 

 " to allow it to expand to the swelling which occurs in the injured 





Fig. 35. — Outside view of over-reaching boots. 



parts" [Fleming). If the heels be much bruised, the injury may 

 be bathed in warm water or poulticed for a short time. 



If the coronet on one of the quarters of the foot be wounded, 

 there will generally be separation, to the depth, perhaps, of half an 

 inch, of the horn of the hoof from the coronet immediately below 

 the injury, in which case, the whole of the separated horn should 

 be removed, as in Fig. 36, by the " drawing knife," so that any 

 discharge there may be from the wound may not collect in the 

 recess thus formed, and, also, that the edge of horn thus left, may 

 not press upon and irritate the wounded tissue, when, as a conse- 

 quence of inflammation, it will have become swollen. In any case, 

 I think it well to pare away the horn below the injured coronet. The 

 wound itself may be treated in the same manner as that described 

 in the preceding paragraph. 



When an over-reach is on the haric tendons, the injury may be 

 confined to the skin, or may also involve, more or less seriously, 

 the tendons themselves, in which case the usefulness of the animal 

 niny be permanently impaired. The treatment will here be that 



