120 



VETERINARY SURGICAL OPERATIONS 



cause very obstinate lameness that^will yield to no other 

 treatment than severe line-firing. In addition, the accumu- 

 lated synovia may be aspirated, with aseptic precaution, im- 

 mediately after the operation and again two to three weeks 

 later, with very nattering results. When these synovial in- 

 flammations and distentions produce lameness it is always an 

 obstinate one that will not yield to treatments less harsh 

 than very severe firing, and not infrequently a second firing 

 is found necessary before a permanent cure of the lameness 

 is effected. 



EQUIPMENT. — Firing irons, forge, clippers, single 

 side-line, and a cantharides blister, 1-8, constitute the es- 

 sential appliances. Firing irons are of many different pat- 

 terns. No two veterinarians seem to use the same pattern. 

 Figs. 74-75 exhibit the various types used by the modern vet- 



FlG. 75. 



Figs. 74 and 75 — Patterns of Firing Irons for Feather Firing. 



erinary surgeon. Some prefer large irons, some small ones, 

 but in every case the edge should be curved and blunt enough 

 to prevent cutting through the skin. The head should.be 

 heavy enough to retain heat well and the handle of handy 

 length. For puncture-firing the benzine thermo-cautery is 

 par excellence the best apparatus, but in lieu of this, the 

 pointed irons will answer. The large point of the thermo- 

 cautery may be used also for line-firing to very good advan- 

 tage, but the most experienced veterinary surgeons prefer 

 the irons heated in a coal, forge. 



The lines are made from one-half to three-quarters of an 

 inch apart. 



By adopting the irons for line-firing and the thermo-cau- 

 tery for puncture-firing the most satisfactory results are ob- 

 tained. 



In puncture-firing, the point of the qautery is made to 



