WOUNDS. 349 : 
hemostatic wedge, with base outwards, whose point is between the two edges . 
of the wound, stops the flow of blood. In a large wound, involving more 
than half the circumference of the vessel, the edges gape apart by the 
tetraction of the elastic fibers; the wound assumes an oblong form which 
favors the hemorrhage—the divided ends no longer able to retract in the 
depth of the tissues, the constant push of the bloody current prevents the 
formation of an obliterating clot. Longitudinal wounds are the less 
dangerous. There is no marked separation of the edges; repair goes on 
as in pricks or in punctures. 
In contused wounds, arteries may be divided cleanly, as in wounds with 
sharp instruments. Sometimes the internal and middle coats rupture- 
first; the external favor the hemostasis by its stretching.  Profectles - 
give rise to lateral wounds, perforations or complete divisions. In the. 
zearing of arteries, the coats of the vessel stretch, then the internal tears. 
first; if the stretching continues, the middle coat then gives away and 
then comes the external. When the artery is of small size, there is no - 
escape of blood: the inside and middle coats are covered by the external, 
which has stretched much before giving away ; the tearing completed, 
both ends of the artery retract, especially the. middle coat, and the ex- 
ternal membrane, less elastic, covering the two stumps of the vessels con-. 
stitute a kind of cork which arrests the blood; an effect similar to tha¢- 
produced in torsion or section with the ecraseur. 
A widely open arterial wound is always characterized by a rutilant hem-.. 
morrage whose force of current is so much more marked that the vessel is . 
nearer to the heart; the beatings of this organ being manifested upon the 
flow of blood by jerks isochronous to the ventricular contractions. When the 
external wound is narrow and sinuous, the fluid runs out yet freely, but it 
is not pushed out so far. With the exception of wounds by tearing, 
arterial divisions are always accompanied by an hemorrhage called primitive. 
When arrested spontaneously or by treatment applied against it, some- 
times the flow of blood reappears after a few days, either through the - 
exploration of the wound or softening and disaggregation of the clot; this. 
hemorrhage is called secondary. 
To arrest the flow of blood, such is the only indication of arterial 
wounds. For a long time old surgery depended on the use of astringents, 
styptics, cooling preparations. Cold water and ice have never arrested a. 
serious arterial hemorrhage, and even the classic chloride of iron does not. 
deserve the reputation made for it in veterinary surgery: it promotes the 
formation of a clot where infectious germs pullulate, and if, after its use, 
the surgeon wants to secure the strings of the blood vessels, they are very 
difficult to find. For hemorrhages in sheet, cautery is the best. If the. 
lesion is on a leg, a temporary hemostatsis may be made with digital. 
