2 VETERINARY SURGICAL THERAPEUTICS. 
position also suggests the possibility of strong reactions, which may 
be the cause of fractures of the vertebral column or of a bone of the 
extremities, of paralysis or various other accidents of a serious 
nature. The victims of a forced recumbent position are not now 
taken into account. 
Ouly slightly painful operations, or those required for internal dis- 
eases, should be performed in the stable. Not only is this place, 
ordinarily, badly lighted, but there is danger of the operators being 
squeezed against the wall or the partitions of the stall. It is better 
to select, close by, a convenient place (grass or soft ground), which 
Should be covered with straw. On pavement, oron a hard and slip- 
pery surface, the horse is liable to slip and injure its knees. 
As it is important to see well what one is doing, operations should 
be performed by daylight. Bothersome, curious, and useless wit- 
nesses would better be kept away. One should take a good posi- 
tion for avoiding injuries from the patient. At night lamps are used 
to light the place used for the operation. 
n 
I. 
SECURING OF SOLIPEDS. 
RESTRAINT IN THE STANDING PosiTIoNn. 
When a horse is to be held in hand it should have on a bridle ora 
halter. If the latter is used, better control is obtained if a rope passed in 
his mouth rests upon the bars. In some cases the cavesson is use- 
ful. At times, for operations performed in certain regions, the ani- 
mal is tied to aring or.a post with an ordinary halter or one still 
stronger. The rope of this should never be left in the mouth or over 
the animal’s nose, as the horse, pulling backwards, may injure its 
tongue or fracture its jaw. The bit or the bridle should not be used, 
since they are likely to give rise to the same accidents. 
After the animal has been thus prepared it may be possible, by 
kind treatment, as well as by these means of restraint, to obtain a suf- 
ficient submission on the part of the animal to perform a compara- 
tively painless operation. But many horses are so restless that vio- 
lent measures must be resorted to. Often applying the old aphorism, 
‘‘that of two simultaneous pains, not in the same spot, the more 
severe renders the other less apparent,” the ‘‘/wch” is used. Is it 
for a simple incision, a free counter-opening, the lancing of an 
abscess, the exploration of a fistula, or the removal of a small neo- 
plasm, the ‘‘twitch” is applied to the upper lip, and the pain 
resulting from its twistings is such that the animal does not react under 
that produced by the instrument. Applied to the ear, or to the lower 
lip, this revulsive does not act so well. The assistant who holds the 
