424 WOUNDS. 
generally accompanied by contusion, though contusion forms no neces- 
sary part of a lacerated wound. When such injuries are inflicted, they 
are mostly followed by little hemorrhage; yet it is 
far from unusual for an animal thus hurt to perish. 
Shock to the system is the most serious of the pri- 
mary effects. Beyond that the immediate conse- 
quence appears to be insignificant. Little blood is 
lost, for the vessels are stimulated by the violence 
which rends these tubes and the soft structures 
asunder. Stimulation causes the torn mouths of 
the arteries and veins to close or to retract. The 
ragged coats of the vessels, the loose fibers of the 
4 } flesh, and the jagged cellular tissue likewise fall over 
pracram or a severn the orifices, and help to stay the flow of the vital 
LACERATED WOUND. current. 
we 
The dangers attending lacerated wounds spring, 
in the first instance, from collapse. This possibility being overcome, 
the immediate peril has been surmounted; all injuries of this nature 
are commonly attended, however, with more or less contusion. The 
force necessary to tear open a portion of the body will, of necessity, 
bruise or kill some part of the flesh. Any animal substance, when 
deprived of vitality, must be cast off by a living body; a slough must 
follow. Now that process is attended with hazard in proportion as it 
is tardily accomplished. The period of its occurrence is always one of 
anxiety; for when this process takes place, the stimulation that orig- 
inally caused the vessels to retract no longer exists. All mechanical 
opposition to hemorrhage is, with the loss of the dead matter, generally 
removed. Everything, therefore, depends upon the fibrinous deposit—a 
sort of glutinous material secreted by the body, which is commonly 
largely poured forth when any slough by natural and speedy action is 
effected. Should the frame be so far debilitated as to prevent all secre- 
tion of fibrin, the most frightful bleeding must ensue. 
The horse which has not recovered from the original injury will then 
sink under the terrible depletion. Therefore, it is impossible to form 
any opinion of the injurious effects or of the consequences likely to 
follow a lacerated wound before some time has elapsed. 
An incised wound implies a division, more or less deep, of the soft 
parts. This form of injury produces less shock to the system, and 
generally heals more quickly than any other. The principal danger is 
encountered at the moment when the wound is inflicted ; vessels may be 
sundered, and they are cut in twain with the least possible irritation to 
the parts within which they are situated. The veins and arteries, there- 
