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over. Less tlian a month's quiet ought not to be thought of— the longer 

 the better. 



Good results may also be expected from local applications. The va- 

 rious lotions which cool the parts, the astringents which lower the ten- 

 sion of the blood vessels, the tepid fomentations which accelerate the 

 circulation in the engorged capillaries, the liniments of various compo- 

 sition, the stimulants, the opiate anodynes, the sedative preparations 

 of aconite, the alterative frictions of iodine — all these are recommended 

 and prescribed by one or another. We prefer counter-irritantSj for the 

 simple reason, among many others, that they tend by the promptness 

 of their action to prevent by anticipation the formation of the bony 

 deposits. The lameness will often yield to the blistering action of can- 

 tharides, in the form of ointment or liniment, and to the alterative 

 preparations of iodine or mercury. And if the owner of a spavined 

 horse really succeeds in removing the lameness, he has accomplished 

 all that he is justified in hoping for ; beyond this let him be well per- 

 suaded that a '^cure" is impossible. 



For this reason, moreover, he will do well to be on his guard against 

 the patented ''cures" which the traveling horse doctor may urge upon 

 his credulity, and withhold his faith from the circular of the agent who 

 will deluge him with references and certificates. It is possible that 

 nostrums may in some exceptional instances prove serviceable, but the 

 greater number of them are capable of producing only injurious effects. 

 The removal of the bony tumor can not be accomplished by any such 

 means, and if a trial of these unknown compounds should be followed 

 by complications no worse than the establishment of one or more ugly, 

 hairless cicatrices, it will be well for both the horse and his owner. 



Eest and counter-irritation, with the proper medicaments, constitute, 

 then, the prominent points in the treatment designed for the relief of 

 bone spavin. Yet there are cases in which all the agencies and methods 

 referred to seem to lack effectiveness and fail to produce satisfactory 

 results. Either the rest has been prematurely interrupted, or the blisters 

 have failed to rightly modify the serous infiltration, or the case in hand 

 has some undiscernible characteristics which seem to have rendered the 

 disease neutral to the agencies employed against it. An indication of 

 more energetic means is then presented, and free cauterization with the 

 fire-iron becomes necessary. 



At this point a word of explanation in reference to this operation of 

 firing maybe appropriate for the satisfaction of any among our readers 

 who may entertain an exaggerated idea of its severity and possible 

 cruelty. 



The operation is one of simplicity, but is nevertheless one which, in 

 order to secure its benefits, must be reserved for times and occasions of 

 which only the best knowledge and highest discretion should be allowed 

 to judge. It is not the mere application of a hot iron to a given part of 

 the body which constitutes the operation of firing. It is the methodical 



