302 VETERINARY MEDICINE AND SURGERY. 



orifice; and lience it generally happens that, unless artificial assistance by 

 free incision is given for the escape of the matter, it Avill burrow down- 

 Avards among and under the ligaments which support the head. Among 

 these it is apt to form large and deep sinuses and fistulse. 



These sinuses often extend down to the bone. The offensive smell of 

 the matter -contained in them will indicate this extension. If the mat- 

 ter is suffered to remain long in contact with the bone, it will j^robably 

 cause caries. 



Treatment. — Before pus is formed, reduce the inflammation, if 

 present, by the application of cold water to the part, and by the adminis- 

 tration of purgatives internally. When the inflammation is overcome, 

 reduce tlie swelling by friction with iodine, hut do not puncture; but if 

 suppuration is established, the abscess cannot be opened too soon, and it 

 is best to make the incision at its base, to allow the pus to escape from 

 its most inferior part. !For this purpose, a free incision is to be made, 

 and it must not be allowed to close too soon; fomentations are to be re- 

 peatedly applied, but no special application is required, the ordinary 

 treatment for abscess being all that is necessary. 



If the abscess has already burst, is discharging a foetid unhealthy pus 

 and the opening is surrounded with fungous granulations, the disease 

 will be found to have assumed a most formidable aspect; for not only will 

 the subcutaneous areolar and muscular tissues be involved, but the liga- 

 mentum nuchce also; which, being tough and elastic, imprisons the pus, 

 causing it to burrow in various directions, and having a low organization, 

 its healing powers are exceedingly torpid. The treatment of a case of 

 this description is a matter of some difficulty, and to be complete, a thor- 

 ough examination must be made with the probe of all the fistulous ulcers 

 and sinuses. These must be freely laid open to their very base, and the 

 whole dressed with a solution of the bichloride of mercury, the chloride 

 of zinc, or the muriate of antimony; a thin layer of the parts laid open 

 will thus be destroyed, and the whole converted into a common wound. 

 The repeated applications of caustics and escharotics are not required, 

 indeed they do much barm; when once the part is converted into a 

 healthy-looking wound, all that is necessary is to keep it clean, dress 

 with mild astringents, and prevent the opening from closing too quickly. 



In many cases, setons inserted from the original opening along the 

 direction of the fistulae, and brought out upon the opposite side of the 

 poll, are very successful; but if there be many sinuses, the seton 



