TREATMENT 135 
After-care—At the end of twenty-four 
hours the sutures are removed and the packing 
carefully lifted out. Harsh handling will cause 
bleeding and should be avoided at this early 
moment after the operation. We simply fill 
the cavity with a cotton wadding dripping with 
mercuric chlorid solution and replace the hood 
for another twenty-four hours before attempt- 
ing any systemic after-treatment. 
The subsequent after-care consists of smoth- 
ering the wound secretions by the application 
of abundance of boric acid and iodoform in the 
proportion of 95 to 5. This should be applied 
three times a day for the first five days and 
later twice and still later once a day. 
Healing is usually complete in forty days. 
Accidents and Sequelae 
Hemorrhage is a common enough accident 
of poll-evil. Always copious, it assumes seri- 
ous proportions when the operation is in any 
way delayed. When the anesthesia or the 
restraint miscarries serious blood losses always 
occur. Secondary hemorrhage is rare except 
when the cavity is too hashly handled when 
the packing is first removed. 
' The hemostasia of poll-evil operations lies 
in: 
1. Stretching the wound apart forcibly 
