PRINCIPLES OF VETERINARY SURGERY 299 



the depths of any puncture of this character is not necessary. 

 In fact, probing, which was once general, is now condemned 

 by every surgeon. If a foreign body is aseptic it becomes 

 encysted, if infected it is eliminated by suppuration. 



When an abscess formation becomes evident, it is not 

 often that the process can be aborted by antiphlogistics, cold 

 baths or continuous irrigations. In most cases this result 

 can only be attained by an incision through the traumatic 

 focus. In punctures of the foot, baths of copper sulphate, 

 preceded by jarring of the sole, are often sufficient to combat 

 the complications. The infection is generally light, as the 

 micro-organisms are brushed from the nail on its passage 

 through the hoof. 



WOUNDS BY TEARING. 



(Lacerated Wounds) 



Wounds by tearing — lacerated wounds — are solutions 

 of continuity caused by a violent traction which is either di- 

 rect or combined with- torsion. 



ETIOLOGY. — Wounds by traction are rare among do- 

 mestic animals. In veterinary pathology, the pulling ofl of the 

 horse's hoof, or the tearing ofif of the ox's horn, claws or 

 hoofs, constitute the best examples of these injuries. Fur- 

 lanetto reports four cases of the wrenching ofif of the hind 

 hoof and in each case the accident was caused by a cart 

 wheel. In the ox he reports cases of the wrenching off of the 

 dew-claws of the fore fetlocks. Such accidents are observed 

 on animals employed about railway stations, in consequence 

 of having the horseshoe caught about the rails. The violent 

 movements made by the animals to extricate the foot wrench 

 off the hoof. Lacerations of the nostril, eyelids and lips are 

 encountered occasionally. Ray reports a horse whose in- 

 ferior maxillary was completely torn away. "Bites of ani- 

 mals may also result in the instantaneous laceration of an 

 ear, eyelid, scrap of skin or flesh." 



