278 KENNEL DISEASES. 
but now and then they fall victims. The injury is very generally inflicted while 
far from home, and where there is scarcely a choice of remedies. ‘Tobacco 
often acts well; and in the absence of anything better, a cigar, piece of “plug,” 
or mouthful of smoking-tobacco should be chewed rapidly and applied to the 
wound. In the West this is considered by many a potent remedy for rattlesnake 
bite when mixed with a goodly quantity of baking-soda. 
Wounds which involve the joints and admit the air to the same are generally 
much more serious than injuries of like extent elsewhere, because permanent 
disease and destruction of the affected joints are liable to result. 
All joints contain and are lubricated by a fluid called the synovia, which is a 
transparent, yellowish-white or slightly reddish fluid, viscid, like the white of an 
egg. A discharge of this is positive evidence that a joint has been entered. 
Other indications are great tenderness and a change in the gait, the dog keep- 
ing his foot from the ground, or bearing as little weight on it as possible, and 
carrying his leg in a flexed position. 
If the instrument that entered the joint is small, sharp, and clean, the wound 
may heal rapidly and no trace of the injury be left; but from large, ragged 
wounds, or wounds that have admitted dirt or other foreign particles, there is 
extremely liable to result a severe and tedious inflammation, attended by the 
formation of pus; and that in turn be followed by disintegration of the ends of 
the bones. The joint affection is then for a time substantially a frequently re- 
curring abscess, and if healing takes place there is union of the bones and a stiff 
joint. But such result is not common. Far more often his blood becomes 
poisoned and the victim dies from septiczemia. 
When a joint has been entered the wound must be thoroughly cleaned, and 
thereafter the air be excluded from it as much as possible, or at least sure meas- 
ures be employed to prevent the admission of any of its usual impurities. 
In cleaning the wound, if it is small and deep and dirt or other foreign matter 
was carried in by the offending instrument, it will likely be necessary to employ 
a syringe, to wash it out thoroughly; and if so, instead of simple water, an anti- 
septic solution should be used. Quite the best is a solution of corrosive subli- 
mate, 1 to 1000, which can be prepared by any druggist; or the operator might 
buy tablets of the sublimate, with full directions as to their use under various 
conditions, and himself make the necessary solution. 
After a thorough cleaning, the hair should be clipped from the adjacent sur- 
face, and the edges of the wound brought into place, stitches being taken if 
needed. 
Whether or not the subsequent dressing should be dry or wet will depend 
upon the character of the wound. If large and ragged, the chances of a speedy 
union and healing without the formation of pus must be small, and probably a 
wet dressing will be the best. When that is to be employed, powdered iodoform 
should be first sprinkled onto the wound, and over it a piece of absorbent, 
