INFLAMMATION, 99 
ference is obtained against some eczematous dermatitis by slight 
Cauterization of the diseased surfaces with solution of nitrate of silver or 
nitric acid. At times, when the tissues are much swollen, scarifications 
are useful; blood and serosity escape from them, the tension of the 
inflamed parts is diminished, the pain reduced ; but the objection to 
them is that they expose the tissues to infection, if they are not made 
aseptically, and the region covered afterwards with an antiseptic dressing 
or damp compresses. Deep scarifications may bring on cartilaginous 
quittor in cases of acute inflammation of the skinof the coronet, or dis- 
ease of the withers or of the poll, if the phlegmasia exists in these 
regions ; in both cases the complication exists on account of an inocu- 
lation produced during or after the operation. 
Almost all acute surgical phlogoses are iz/ectious, brought on by 
micro-organisms. Prophylaxy, for such as can be cured, is said in two 
words: asepsis for the wounds of operations and antisepsis for acci- 
dental wounds. As soon as a microbic phlegmasia exists, the agents 
which have given rise to it must be destroyed by an antiseptic treatment, 
or their pullulation must be arrested. One method consists in ap- 
plying to the inflamed parts frequent warm lotions of corrosive subli- 
mate, carbolic acid, or creolin solution: they are especially useful in 
inflammatory diseases of the skin and of mucous membranes, as there 
is danger of the extension of the process to the subcutaneous connective 
layer. This treatment cleans off the surfaces, renders them aseptic and 
protects them against complications. 
When the region permits it, the application of compresses, dipped in 
the same solutions and often changed, is to be resortedto. If poultices 
are to be used, they must be prepared with phenic or creolined water. 
Continued immersions or baths in a warm antiseptic solution are most 
useful, and in the case of small animals nothing is easier. They can be 
used for large animals when the inflammation is located in the foot or 
in the lower part of aleg: a large basin, tub or pail, resting on a bed 
of straw, and containing a weak solution of creolin (2 p. 100), carbolic 
acid (2 p. 100), or of corrosive sublimate (1 per 1000), answers the 
purpose, the diseased part being soaked in it for 20 or 30 minutes. 
Warm antiseptic compresses and irrigations or baths give the best results 
in the treatment of phlegmasie of the skin and of the mucous membranes 
(vulva, vagina and rectum), in periarticular inflammations, ulcerated 
lesions, diphtheritic lesions, and, in general, in all microbic affections. 
The liquid, absorbed by the cutaneous pores, penetrates into the tissues 
and into the lymphatics, and produces a most remarkable effect: the 
swelling diminishes, the pains subside, the tension becomes less, the 
phlegmasia is arrested and soon goes away. In numerous cases which 
look threatening, where suppuration seems likely to be abundant, recov- 
