340 PRINCIPLES OF VETERINARY SURGERY 



tions of Professor Labat show the excellent results it is pos- 

 sible to obtain by the application of the elastic band. The 

 latter is placed around the base of the tumor, in a groove 

 made with the bistoury. The growth is carefully disinfected 

 and showered each day. Labat attributes the wonderful 

 effects to the showering and the protective dressings which 

 are applied to the tumor. 



FOREIGN BODIES. 



The accidents caused by foreign bodies are frequently 

 observed in veterinary pathology. In every species foreign 

 bodies, entering from without, may cause a variety of differ- 

 ent lesions. The gluttonish habits and the rapid first masti- 

 cation of bovidse renders the accident conspicuously fre- 

 quent among them. Ordinarily the foreign body is ingested, 

 as the keeper, perceiving possible danger, rushes upon the 

 animal to snatch it away. 



Independently of the ingested foreign body, all animals 

 sustain variable accidents by the penetration of different 

 objects under the skin and into the muscles. Sprigs of wild 

 grass may penetrate the dog's paws and cause fistula, while 

 pieces of iron, splinters, needles and nails may pierce into 

 the body and break off, leaving a fragment and some mutil- 

 ated tissue more or less deeply imbedded. When of small 

 dimensions they may pass through the skin, and at first not 

 betray their presence by any perceptible symptom. If asep- 

 tic they may remain in the tissues indefinitely without caus- 

 ing any inconvenience, and if absorbable may break up and 

 disappear little by little. (Fig. 33.) The organism possesses 

 a remarkable tolerafion in this connection. Bullets and shot 

 received by dogs while hunting may remain in the tissues 

 without harm for years. 



SYMPTOMS. — If a foreign body is septic, its presence 

 soon provokes a reaction manifested by inflammatory phe- 



