16 VETERINARY SURGICAL OPERATIONS 



with a refractory patient. The hot water heater and tank 

 which are placed behind the washstand partition might oc- 

 cupy the space allotted to the stove and thus fill the double 

 mission of supplying the hot water and the heat, but this ar- 

 rangement is objected to because of the unbearable heat it 

 produces in warm weather. 



The portable table is needed as an elevated resting place 

 for the instruments, dressings and antiseptic basins, and is 

 carried within reach of the operator during the operation. 



The locker is needed for clothing, ropes and other more 

 or less unsightly objects needed from time to time. The 

 instrument case is supplied with shelves enough to hold all 

 of the instruments. The small instruments are classified and 

 kept in separate places or in separate boxes properly labeled. 



The anvil and vise are not absolutely necessary, but are 

 nevertheless handy when a shoe must be fitted, when an in- 

 strument must be straightened, filed or curved to meet cer- 

 tain requirements, or to make emergent repairs of various ap- 

 paratus. 



A small grind stone, an oil stone, a hone and a razor strop 

 are .absolutely needed amongst the operating room appur- 

 tenances. These should be kept together in a convenient 

 place specially assigned for them, and in view of the ad- 

 vantages of keen cutting knives they should be constantly 

 utilized. The- adage of the wheat cradlers of past epochs, 

 "There is.no time lost in whetting," applies here, and besides 

 good "cradling" in the surgfcal field can hardly be done with 

 dull instruments. 



3. GENERAL RECOMMENDATIONS: (a) Diagno- 

 sis.— By artful attack of the symptoms, medical treatment 

 can often be carried to a successful issue without an inkling 

 of the nature or even the location of the causative lesion. 

 Surgical treatment, never ! In surgery an accurate diagnosis 

 must precede all interference. The nature, the location and 

 the extent of invasion must be known. The physician may 

 sometimes cunningly cover up an error in diagnosis, but the 

 surgeon can not, because he uncovers the disease in his work 

 or else exposes his error in the untoward results. 



The prospective practitioner is first of all warned against' 

 incautious, hasty decisions. The deliberate, cautious, scruti- 

 nizing examination must prevail in order to prevent the blun- 

 dering diagnoses which lead to the performance of improper, 

 unsuccessful and ofttimes harmful operations. No element 

 that may in any way add to or distract from the probable 

 results of operative intervention should be overlooked, and 



