OCCASIONAL DISEASES. 



Poll Evil is due to injury or violence brought to bear upon 

 the top of the head; it may be caused by the willful act of some 

 malicious person, .or the horse itself may inflict an injury by sud- 

 denly throwing up the head and striking it against a cross beam; 

 while by some it has been attributed to the habitual use of a Bear- 

 ing rein. Whatever be the cause, the result is the same — ^namely, 

 inflammation of the dense connective tissue wdiich lies under the 

 skin just behind the ears; as the consequence of the inflammation 

 suppuration is established, a large swelling is formed that ulti- 

 matel}' has to be opened or bursts spontaneously; in con.sequence 

 of the lowly organized character of the dense tissues in and about 

 this part of the head, and the tendency that suppuration has to go 

 deeper and deeper among them rather than come to the surface, 

 burst and discharge, it is always desirable, by means of hot 

 fomentations and poultices to hasten on the maturation of the ab- 

 scess and then open it wdth a free incision at the base of the swell- 

 ing and thus allow the matter (pus) to escape. In some cases of 

 long standing the natural tendency which pus has to burrow leads 

 to the formation of deep-seated fistulous ulcers which take the 

 form of tubular cavities about the size of a goose quill; therefore, 

 when an abscess of this description has been freel}^ laid open, it is 

 still necessar}^ to examine its base and sides with a vulcanite 

 probe to discover if any of these sinuses exist; if so, they also 

 must be laid open so that the imprisoned pus may obtain an exit 

 and the whole of the walls of the sinuses be properly dressed. 

 One good dressing of the solution of Bichloride of Mercury, the 

 same strength as that used for quittor, will frequently serve to 

 arrest the tendency to form pus and convert the whole into a 

 healthy-looking wound; however, should the one dressing not 

 suffice, it must be repeated at about half the strength, and should 

 there remain any sinuses but incompletely laid open these should 

 be carefully injected with the lotion by means of a glass syringe. 



'JIG 



