110 WOUNDS AND BKUISES. 



cover with antiseptic cotton-wool, lint or ordinary cotton-wool 

 smeared over with iodoform ointment, salicylic acid ointment, or 

 soaked in eucalyptus oil. If nothing else is at hand, dust the 

 part over with a thick layer of wheaten flour or powdered starch, 

 the good effect of which will be much improved by the addition of 

 a fourth part of finely powdered boracic acid. The after treat- 

 ment does not differ from that of a wound. Iodoform should not 

 be used over large surfaces, for in that case it might act as a 

 poison. A saturated watery solution of picric acid applied by 

 means of lint soaked in it and left in position for two or three 

 days, if there is no rise of temperature, acts well in mild burns of 

 small area, but its application has many drawbacks. 



If the pain be great, give 1 oz. chloral hydrate in a pint of 

 water, as a drench, and keep up the strength by a quart of beer, 

 or a couple of glasses of spirits mixed with water, every now and 

 then. A severe burn or scald causes great shock to the system; 

 hence the necessity for supporting the vital power after these 

 accidents. 



Wounds of the Abdomen. 



In their severe forms, these are generally caused by " staking," 

 aft when a horse, in jumping " short," impales hiniiself on a spiked 

 railing or on a sharp pointed stake ; by thrusts with stable forks, 

 horns of cattle, weapons of various kinds, and other pointed 

 objects, as in carriage accidents, etc. Their gravity chiefly 

 depends : (1) on the introduction into the peritoneal cavity (the 

 space which exists between the sides of the abdomen, and the 

 abdominal organs, such as the bowels, stomach, liver, spleen, etc.) 

 of contaminated matter from the wounded bowel or from outside ; 

 (2) on an irreducible protrusion of a portion of the contents of- 

 the abdomen ; and (3) on injury to the internal organs. In 

 considering the chances of recovery, it must be remembered that 

 horses often survive^ very severe penetrating wounds of the 

 abdomen, with or without treatment. Wounds of the abdomen 

 may consist of (a) simple injury to the skin and superficial 

 muscles ; or of (6) an opening into the peritoneal cavity, with or 

 without injury to the internal organs ; and with or without protru- 

 sion of one or more of the internal organs through such opening. 

 In an accident of this kind, the great danger is the setting-up of 

 peritonitis (p. 114), namely, inflammation of the peritoneum (the 

 membrane which lines the abdomen and covers the bowels and 

 other organs) by the escape into it of a portion of the contents of 

 the alimentary canal, or of blood, or by the introduction into it 

 of foreign matter from without. Injuries which come under (a) 



