■WOUNDS OF JOINTS. 467 



is apt to mislead us. The foot must be carefully examined, and this 

 can not be properly done without removing the shoe. The nails 

 should be drawn separately and carefully examined. If there is no 

 escape of pus from the nail holes, or if the nails themselves are not 

 moist, we must continue our examination of the foot by carefully 

 pinching or tapping it at all parts. With a little practice we can de- 

 tect the spot where pain is the greatest or discover the delicate line or 

 scar left at the point of entrance of the foreign body. The entire sole 

 is then to be thinned, after which we are to carefully cut down upon 

 the point where pain is greatest upon pressure, and, finally, through 

 the sole at this spot. When the matter has escaped, the sole, so far 

 as it was undermined by pus, is to be removed. The foot must now 

 be poulticed for one or two days and afterwards (h-essed with a com- 

 press of oakum saturated with carbolic-acid solution or other anti- 

 septic dressing. 



If we discover a nail or other object in the foot, the principal direc- 

 tion, after having removed the offending body, is to cut away the 

 sole, in a funnel shape, down to the sensitive parts beneath. This is 

 imperative, and if a good free opening has been made and is main- 

 tained for a few days, hot fomentations and antiseptic dressings 

 applied, the cure is mostly easy, simple, quick, and permanent. The 

 horse should be shod with a leather sole under the shoe, first of all 

 applying tar and oakum to prevent any dirt from entering the wound. 

 In some instances nails. may puncture the flexor tendons, the cofiin 

 bone, or enter the coffin joint. Such injuries are always serious, their 

 recovery slow and tedious, and the treatment so varied and difficult 

 that the services of a veterinarian will be necessary. 



PUNCTUEED WOUNDS OF JOINTS, OR OPEN JOINTS. 



These wounds are more or less frequent. They are always serious, 

 and often result in anchylosis (stiffening) of the joint or death of the 

 animal. The joints mostly punctured are the hock, fetlock, or knee, 

 though other joints may, of course, suffer this -injury. As the symp- 

 toms and treatment are much the same for all, only the accident as it 

 occurs in the hock joint will be described. Probably the most com- 

 mon mode of injury is from the stab of a fork, but it may result from 

 the kick of another horse that is newly shod, or in many other ways. 

 At first the horse evinces but slight pain or lameness. The owner 

 discovers a small wound scarcely larger than a pea, and pays but little 

 attention to it. In a few days, however, the pain and lameness be- 

 come excessive; the horse can no longer bear any weight upon the 

 injured leg; the joint is very much swollen and painful upon pres- 

 sure; there are well-marked symptoms of constitutional disturbance — 

 quick pulse, hurried breathing, high temperature, 103° to 106° F., the 



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