i86 
A TREATISE ON ELEPHANTS. 
Apart from damaging granulations, the more pain occasioned the 
more timidity will be aroused in the patient and greater will be the 
difficulty in future applications. 
Owing to the neglect and improper treatment of wounds, 
elephants are constantly incapacitated for work for months, which is 
absurd. Experience proves that with care and attention wounds in 
elephants, though perhaps not disposed to heal as rapidly as in most 
other creatures, will heal in about one-fourth the time it takes a 
mahout to cure them. 
Owners of elephants and especially firms who have European 
assistants should insist that elephants placed in their charge shall 
not be treated (except under their personal direction) by mahouts. 
The assistants should be careful to note that the strength of all 
antiseptics, disinfectants, etc., laid down should be adhered to. In 
many cases much unnecessary pain and injury to the tissues is 
caused by using these solutions much too strong. The method of 
pouring an unknown quantity of drugs such as phenyle and carbolic 
acid, etc., into a bucket of water is to be strongly condemned. 
Abscess. 
The term applied to a circumscribed collection of matter (pus) 
usually occurring in the deeper layers of the skin or tissues beneath 
it. ' 
Causes. — Entrance of micro-organisms,* irritation and uncleanli- 
ness, pricks from thorns, stakes, nails, bruises, uneven pressure from 
loads, ill-fitting gear; hence it follows that they are most often met 
with on parts subject to pressure such as the back and sides ; they 
are not infrequently seen in the feet. 
Symptoms. — Swelling accompanied by heat (not ahvays pro- 
nounced), pain and tenderness. The formation of matter in these 
animals is a somewhat slower process than in man and many animals 
and. owing to the thickness of the skin, the abscess does not readily 
come to a head and so permit of exit of the contents but instead it 
burrows beneath it. Constitutional disturbance is manifested by a 
more or less severe degree of fever. 
Treatment. — As soon as a swelling about the back after work 
is noticed, it should be treated as laid down later for this condi- 
tion under the heading of abrasion. When matter has formed, the 
only treatment consists in evacuating it : this in itself is a simple 
process, but the diagnosis of the presence of fluid is frequently a 
difficult matter as, owing to the thickness of the skin, fluctuation is 
not readily obtained. To observe fluctuation, place the fingers 
