THE CAUTERY. 



161 



Fig. aoi.— Various Cauteries. 



lighter ones are usually preferred, not only on account of this 

 facUity, but as being less liable to produce too pronounced an 

 effect. 



Heavy instruments, in consequence of the degree of heat they 

 radiate, and their contact with a broader surface of skin, are liable 

 to transform the firing into the condition of a mere bum. 



The size of the cautery will necessarily be regulated by the ex- 

 tent of the region to be treated. The cautery must be perfectly 

 smooth, on its surface as weU as on its thin edge, and to ascertain 

 that this is the case, before they are heated a file should be passed 

 over both surfaces, and before being applied to the skin they 

 should be again inspected by the surgeon or an assistant, to be 

 assured that the edge is clear and clean, and there is no roughness 

 to cause a ragged and uneven Une on the skin. 



In heating the cautery, a charcoal fire is much to be preferred 

 to that from the blacksmith's forge. The latter soon soils and 

 blackens the instrument, while the former is smokeless and every 

 way cleaner, besides being portable and always convenient. 



There is no uniform rule to govern the position in which the 

 animal must be secured. While there are occasions when he can 

 be treated while standing, and kept under control by the simple 

 means of restraint, in many, and indeed in a majority of cases, 



