WOUNDS AND WOUND INFECTIONS 171 



Fowler's solution of arsenic night and morning are indicated. If 

 proud flesh forms it may be burned off with a hot iron. Treat- 

 ment suitable for one patient may be entirely ineffective for another, 

 so each case must be handled on its own merits. A dressing made 

 of 1 ounce of vaselin, 2 drams of zinc oxid, and 20 drops of iodized 

 phenol has been recommended by veterinarians with wide practical 

 experience. 



Ulcers are old wounds with no tendency to heal. They are 

 often called "running sores." A careful examination will usually 

 reveal some foreign irritating material, which must be removed 

 before healing will take place. When they occur over a bone it 

 should be exposed and scraped. Scars are always left when ulcers 

 heal. 



Fistulse are abnormal, tube-like passages. When they have but 

 one opening they are termed "blind fistulse." A true fistula is one 

 that discharges the secretion of an organ. In the horse such a fis- 

 tula is most common as a result of injury to the duct of one of the 

 salivary glands. The continuous dripping of the saliva often makes 

 healing impossible, and permanent relief can be obtained only by 

 actually destroying the function of the gland with injections of iodin. 



An open joint may be defined as an external wound which com- 

 municates with a joint and allows synovia to escape. It often 

 occurs as a result of a puncture wound caused by a fork-tine or 

 similar pointed object. It is dangerous, because infection gains 

 entrance to the joint cavity, where absorption of poisons is very 

 rapid. Treatment must be immediate to prevent serious conse- 

 quences and had better be left to a veterinarian. The wound 

 ought to be flushed out with a non-irritating antiseptic solution. 

 A bandage should be applied, or the skin wound covered with 

 collodion, if it is thought that no pus organisms have gained en- 

 trance. In case pus forms in quantity the prognosis is doubtful. 



WOUND INFECTION DISEASES 



A number of diseases are directly due to wound infection. 

 Besides those caused by specific micro-organisms, like anthrax and 

 tetanus, there are recognized the following: suppuration, abscess- 

 formation, wound fever, septicemia, and pyemia. 



Suppuration means the formation of pus. It is caused by in- 

 fection with one or more of the pus-producing micro-organisms, 

 like Staphylococcus pyogenes aureus. Staphylococcus pyogenes 



