52 CANINE AND FELINE SURGERY 



Moller-' recommends a wound gelatine \\'hich has the 

 advantage of adhering equallj' well to moist or dr}' surfaces. 

 It is prepared b)' soaking ordinary sheet gelatine in a sufficient 

 quantity of a I per cent, sublimate solution to cover it. 

 After it has become quite soft it is melted b}' gentle heat, and 

 a quantity of glycerine equal to one-tenth of the dry gelatine 

 added, ^^'hen required for use it is melted over a slow fire 

 and painted o\'er the wound. 



To prevent the animal from licking the wound, an 

 Elizabethan collar (see Fig. 27) is very useful. 



Methods of allaying Haeraorrhagre. — Hemorrhage, when 

 profuse, is temporarily arrested by means of pressure applied 

 above or immediateh- around the bleeding part. This can 

 be done b)- the fingers or \\ith the aid of a tourniquet made 

 of tape, elastic, or rubber tubing tied tightly above the wound 

 if the severed vessel be an artery, or below the wound if it is 

 a vein. The two ends of the \'essels are then sought for, and 

 secured bj' artery forceps, of which there are several patterns 

 in common use (see Fig. 29). In extreme cases it may even 

 be necessary to cut down upon the vessel a short distance 

 a^\•a^• from the original wound, and ligature it here. 



When secured, the forceps are left on for a few minutes, 

 or else the end of the vessel is ligatured with some aseptic 

 material, such as boiled silk. It is often sufficient mereh- to 

 twist the forceps round a few times. 



Small hemorrhages can be checked b)- the direct applica- 

 tion of stj'ptics, such as perchloride of iron, adrenalin, tannic 

 acid, tannoform, etc. 



The Suturing- of Wounds. — \'arious forms of sutures are 

 used for drawing together the edges of \\-ounds, the two chief 

 divisions being the ' interrupted ' and the ' continuous.' 



The principal subdivisions of interrupted sutures are : 

 simple interrupted, pin, button, or quill sutures, Lembert, 

 and Czerny-Lembert. 



1 Holler's '\'eterinary Surgery' (Dollar's translation), p. 2. 



