360 DISEASES OF THE HOKSE. 



Appreciating now the dangers associated with all wounds of articu- 

 lations, however simple and apparently slight, and how serious and 

 troublesome are the complications which are liable to arise during 

 their progress and treatment, we are prepared to understand and 

 realize the necessity and the value of early and prompt attention 

 upon their discovery and diagnosis. 



Treatment. — For simple bruises, like those which appear in the 

 form of broken knees or of carpitis, simple remedies, such as warm 

 fomentations or cold-water applications and compresses of astringent 

 mixtures, suggest themselves at once. Injuries of a more complicated 

 character, as lacerations of the skin or tearing of soft structures, will 

 also be benefited by simple dressings with antiseptic mixtures, as 

 those of the carbolic-acid order. The escape of synovia should sug- 

 gest the prompt use of collodion dressings to-check the flow and pre- 

 vent the further escape of the fluid. But if the discharge is abundant 

 and heavily suppurative, little can be done more than to put in prac- 

 tice the "expectant" method with warm fomentations, repeatedly 

 applied, and soothing, mucilaginous poultices. Improvement, if any 

 is possible, will be but slow to manifest itself. The most difficult of 

 all things to do, in view of varying interests and opinions — ^that is, 

 in a practical sense — is to abstain from " doing " entirely, and yet in 

 the cases we are considering we are firmly convinced that noninter- 

 ference is the best and wisest policy. 



In cases which are carried to a successful result the discharge wiU 

 diminish by degrees, the extreme pain will gradually subside, the 

 convalescent will begin timidly to rest his foot upon the ground, and 

 presently to bear weight upon it, and perhaps, after a long and tedi- 

 our process of recuperation, he may be returned to his former and 

 normal condition of usefulness. When the discharge has wholly 

 ceased and the wounds are entirely healed, a blister covering the 

 whole of the joint for the purpose of stimulating the absorption of 

 {he exudation will be of great service. If, on the contrary, there is 

 no amelioration of symptoms and the progress of the disease resists 

 every attempt to check it ; if the discharge continues to flow not only 

 without abatement but in an increased volume, and not alone by a 

 single opening but by a number of fistulous tracts which have succes- 

 sively formed ; if it seems evident that this drainage is rapidly and 

 painfully sapping the suffering animal's vitality, and a deficient vis 

 vitw fails to cooperate with the means of cure — -all rational hope of 

 recovery may be finally abandoned. Any further waiting for chances, 

 or time lost in experimenting, will be mere cruelty and there need 

 be no hesitation concerning the next step. The poor beast is under 

 sentence of death, and every consideration of interest and of human- 

 ity demands an anticipation of nature's evident intent in the quick 

 and easy execution of the sentence. 



