90 WOUNDS AND BRUISES. 



TREATMENT. — If pus be present, free vent should be given to 

 it by the knife, and the j^art bathed and afterwards treated with 

 an antiseptic (p. 67). In the case of a severe blow which we may 

 expect will be followed by an abscess, it is well to give at first a 

 purgative ; to keei3 the animal on laxative food (unless he is in a 

 debilitated state) ; and to foment the part with warm water re- 

 peatedly before opening. If, after some days, when all heat and 

 inflammation have ceased, we find that the swelling feels as if it 

 contains fluid, we should open it by a horizontal incision at its 

 lowest point — so as to allow the hair to grow over the subsequent 

 scar — then aj^ply an antiseptic (tannoform, for instance), and ban- 

 dage with cotton wadding as in sprain (p. 45), so as to induce 

 absorption by pressure. Sometimes, even after the sac has been 

 opened, it becomes hard from the exudation becoming organised. 

 In order to break up this deposit, we may determine an increased 

 supply of blood to the part by repeatedly blistering it with biniodide 

 of mercury ointment (1 to 8 of lard). A seton is not admissible, 

 for it is liable to thicken the skin and thus leave a blemish. 



Legal Aspect of Cutting. 



Under this heading I wish to include speedy cutting, brushing, 

 tread, interfering, and over-reaching. The case of Dickinson v. 

 Follett, Exeter, 25th July, 1833 ("Moody and Robinson's Reports," 

 vol. 2, p. 299) is the only one I can find on this point, and is as 

 follows : — " The warranty was admitted. The horse had been kept 

 and used by the plaintiff as a. carriage horse (for which purpose he 

 was bought) about a month, and was then tendered to be returned 

 as unsound. It was admitted that the horse was unsound at that 

 time, but there was conflicting evidence whether the unsoundness 

 existed at the time of the sale, or whether it arose from some sub- 

 sequent cause ; and, on the other hand, a veterinary surgeon, called 

 for the defendant, after giving his opinion that the lameness arose 

 from a recent injury, stated also, that the horse was so ill-formed, 

 from turning out one of its fore legs, as to be incapable of work 

 to any extent without cutting, so as to produce lameness. 



" Follett, in his reply, contended, that at all events the horse was 

 unsound from this malformation; that a horse so ill-formed as to 

 be incapable of the ordinary usefulness of a horse was unsound. 



" Anderson, J., in summing up, said that the horse could not be 

 unsound in law, merely from badness of shape. As long as he was 

 uninjured, he must be considered sound. When the injury is pro- 

 duced by the badness of his action, that injury constitutes the un- 

 soundness. His lordship then put the other parts of the case to 

 the jury, who found a verdict for the defendant." 



