88 VETERINARY SURGICAL OPERATIONS 



body, but especially about the feet of horses, the copious 

 bleeding is promptly controlled by searing. The- same may 

 be said of keloids of the fetlocks, abnormal growths of hoof 

 about the coronet and warts and other growths at different 

 parts of the body. In the execution of extensive dissections 

 the pointed cautery can be utilized to excellent advantage in 

 touching up small bleeding vessels whose caliber is too small 

 to twist with the forceps but which, on account of their num- 

 bers, yield an annoying haemorrhage. 



In the treatment of non-operable growths the caustic is 

 the only resort. Carcinomatous, actinomycotic, botryomy- 

 cotic, and sarcomatous growths . are sometimes controlled 

 indefinitely, and even cured, by the judicious application of 

 cauterant chemicals. It is quite customary now-a-days to 

 treat the "lumpy jaw" in this manner, sometimes after a part 

 of the tumor has been resected, but often by simply introduc- 

 ing the caustic into the existing fistulas. The vascular field 

 in which these tumors are often located, the inaccessible po- 

 sition they occasionally occupy or the indispensable organs 

 they sometimes implicate, may preclude surgical ablation 

 and thus justify the use of caustics. 



Caustics may also be used to advantage in the treatment 

 of indolent superficial ulcers. By burning out the layer of in- 

 active, unhealthy cells, a new vigorous reaction may be stim- 

 ulated underneath, with the effect that normal cicatrization 

 will often supervene. Ulceration of the cornea in dogs may 

 often be controlled by touching up the ulcer with nitrate of 

 silver, and refractory sores about the legs of all the domestic 

 animals very often yield only to -cauterization. 



THE CHEMICAL CAUSTICS.— There are many caus- 

 tics available for these purposes and all of them have the 

 same general effect. They vary only in the degree of the 

 cauterization produced and the time required to completely 

 destroy the tissue with which they come into contact. For 

 example, the strong mineral acids have instantaneous cauter- 

 ant action while the salts act more slowly. Among the most 

 appropriate chemical caustics for veterinary use are : Arse- 

 nic, cupric sulphate, mercuric chloride, mercuric oxide, mer- 

 curic iodide, zinc chloride, silver nitrate, formalin, solution 

 antimony chloride, hydrochloric acid. 



i. Arsenic and cocoa butter, one part of the former to 

 four parts of the latter, is probably the most suitable caustic 

 to apply upon the surface of malignant growths, although 

 many other combinations containing arsenic have been rec- 

 ommended. Amongst these are Plunket's caustic for the 



