■WOUNDS — DOG BITES — POISONED WOUNDS. 381 



Lacbeated AND Contused Wounds. — If the -wound is 

 torn, and contused, the parts if not too much injured should 

 be placed as near as practicahle in their natural position ; if 

 too much lacerated or crushed, the loose and disorganized 

 parts should be carefuUy cut away. If the situation of the 

 ■wound admits of it, a -warm poultice may be applied, and 

 changed twice a day, until healthy suppuration ensues. 

 Afterward it will only require to be kept covered with an 

 oiled or greased cloth, sufficiently touched with turpentine to 

 repel the fly. If the situation of the wound does not admit 

 of poulticing, it should be fornented until clean, and some 

 mild stimulant applied. Mr. Spooner recommends tincture of 

 myrrh, and an astringent powder compounded as follows: 

 powdered chalk 4 oz., Armenian bole 1 oz., powdered charcoal 

 1 oz., powdered alum -J oz., sulphate of zinc i oz. 



Pdnctueed . Wounds. — These are made by pointed 

 instruments, splinters of wood, etc. Fomentations are 

 generally made use of, and the Mountain Shepherd's Manual 

 states that if these are made with a decoction of chamomile 

 flowers, their good effects will be increased. " The method 

 of applying [fomentations] is to dip a piece of woolen cloth 

 into the decoction when hot, then to wring it, and apply it to 

 the parts, dipping the cloth again when the heat has abated.'-' 

 If the wound heals on the outside before it does within, and 

 matter forms in it, it must again be opened. 



Dog Bites. — From their torn and lacerated character, dog 

 bites are generally very fatal,^and the more so, from the fact 

 that the skin is generally stripped from large surfaces. When 

 the latter has occurred in hot weather, and particularly 

 when the skin is removed from the body, gangrene generally 

 ensues speedily. I have attempted to procure the re-adhesion 

 of the skin by carefully cleansing it, restoring the remaining 

 portions to their natural position, and stitching the edges 

 together : but in hot weather, and when the flies are abundant 

 I have never succeeded when the denuded surfaces were at all 

 extensive. In the latter cases, fatal gangrene has usually even 

 anticipated the attacks of the fly. "Wounds from bites are to 

 be treated like other wounds exhibiting the same kind of 

 injuries. 



Poisoned Wounds. — In the Mountain Shepherd's Manual 

 it is stated that sheep in Europe are not unfrequently bitten 



