BIKING. — DEPTH 01' THE LINES. 165 



in favour of either one party or the other. Sometimes it is 

 necessary to fire deeply, and sometimes not. The extent to 

 which the lines should be taken wiU, iu numerous iustances, 

 have to be governed by the breed of the patient, the thickness 

 of the skin, and the nature and state of the disease. 



Many writers, whose pseudo humanity is more conspicuous 

 than their common sense, condemn the use of the actual 

 cautery not only as cruel in the extreme, but as unnecessary 

 upon all occasions. I have found it, however, when rightly 

 applied to cases of the right kind, to be an agent of great 

 value. I have found it valuable in spavin, and curb ; ia sprains 

 of the metacarpal ligament ; ia splint ; ia cases of debUity of 

 the limbs ; and in specific ophthalmia. It is a remedy, however, 

 of limited application. It has been, and by numbers is yet, 

 very greatly abused. It is of no avail to fire the hocks for 

 thorough pin or bog spavin ; nor the fetlock joints for wind- 

 gaUs; nor the spine ia cases of tetanus. On the contrary, 

 use the remedy to cases appropriate, and I have no fear of it 

 being either decried on the score of inhumanity, or, on the other 

 hand, lauded to an undue extent, 



MaTTEBS to OBSEETE EEI1A.TING TO THE OPEEATION OB' 



ExEiNG. — It is necessary to remove the hair from the part 

 where the cautery is to be applied. Touatt recommends the 

 limb to be shaved, but this is unnecessary. K the hair be 

 clipped away close to the skia, and the skin afterwards carefully 

 cleansed, it is all that is required. 



Iron. — The thickness of the burning edge of the iron 

 should vary accordiag to the breed of the patient to be operated 

 upon, and the nature of the disease ; curbs and splints, when 

 it is necessary to fire them, require a fine-edged iron : while 

 ring bones and side bones require the iron to be thick upon it& 



