294 DADD’S VETERINARY MEDICINE AND SURGERY 
should be given night and morning. This may be dissolved is 
nalf a bucket of water, which the horse will drink. In the course 
of a couple of days, the practitioner will be able to determine 
whether or not the tumor is likely to suppurate; if so, it wil] 
have increased in size, and have a soft fluctuating feel. 
Just as soon as matter can be detected, the abscess must be 
punctured at its base, by means of a thumb lancet. It will not 
do to allow the matter to accumulate ; for, if so, it will burrow 
and spread in various directions, making a very extensive and for- 
midable abscess. It would be necessary to make a free opening 
into the abscess large enough to admit a man’s finger, and if, in 
the course of a day or two, the opening should partly close or con- 
tract, it must be dilated with a knife. So soon as the abscess is 
laid open, all the matter must be squeezed out, which process must 
be accomplished by the use of sponge and hot water. We then, 
in view of removing every particle of matter, carefully inject the 
eavity with a quantity of pyroligneous acid and water, equal parts. 
A glass syringe is best, as the acid has a bad effect on a metal one. 
It will be necessary to sponge the cavity once daily fer several 
days, or until matter veases to form. In the mean tiie the ani- 
mal must be put under treatment, for it is very rare that this dis- 
ease can be cured by local treatment alone. My usual custom ia 
to give the patient thirty grains of the iodide of potass, twice 
daily, in half a bucket of water. The animal will not refuse to 
drink it. Should he be weak and emaciated, tonics and stimu- 
lunts are indicated. Half an ounce of powdered golden scal and 
the same quantity of ginger, given with a small quantity of water, 
us a drench, daily, will answer the purpose. Sometimes it is ad- 
visable to put a pad of cotton cloth, or a large wad of oakum on 
the poll, in view of keeping the skin and sub-tissues in contact, by 
which means they more readily unite. The pad may be secured 
to the part by passing a cotton roller, five inches wide and three 
yards in length, around the neck. At the poll the bandage is ta 
be further secured, by tying a lock of the hair of the forehead with 
a lock of the hair of the mane. This precaution prevents the 
bandage from slipping backward. The bandage should be re 
moved and readjusted every day, and the parts are to be cleansed 
and sy~inged, in the manner just alluded to, as long as necessary, 
After the lapse of a few days, should the secretion of matter de 
crease, then the chances are in favor of a cure. 
