Mealing of Wounds 165 



must be destroyed by burning with a stick of lunar 

 caustic. 



In another method of healing, the blood and juices 

 collected in the wound form a protective coat, or scab, 

 and healing takes place under this. The scab should 

 never be removed unless pus or matter collects under it. 



In cases in which wounds heal by granulation or under 

 a scab, new tissue fills in the gap of the wound and 

 makes the scar, which is likely to remain as a perma- 

 nent blemish. In wounds which have been sewed up 

 and have done well, the stitches can be cut and removed 

 in about four or five days, providing there is no strain 

 on the tissues to pull them apart. In cases when the 

 stitches become loosened thej' should be cut and re- 

 placed by others that hold firmly, unless the wound has 

 united, when they can be clipped and removed. 



It is frequently necessary to make wounds. They 

 should be made quickly, to avoid giving the animal 

 pain, and so far as possible the cut should be made 

 parallel with the muscular fibers of the region. A good 

 general rule is to cut with the direction of .the hair. 

 When muscular fibers are cut across, the wound tends to 

 spread apart. Before such work is attempted, the animal 

 should be securely confined, so that it cannot hurt itself 

 or the operator by biting, striking, kicking or struggling. 



DISEASES AND ABNORMAL GROWTHS 



Under this general head there are grouped, for con- 

 venience' sake, diseases and difficulties that are due to 

 many unlike causes. In all of them, however, the 



