ABRASIONS. 
203 
destruction of the skin may die or slough so as to incorporate the 
whole thickness of the skin (forming the condition familiarly known 
in horses as sitfast''), the slough on separating leaving a hole. 
Treatment : Preventive. — Consists of cleanliness both of the 
skin and the gear with appliances. The gear should always be the 
best made, as cheap materials are notoriously provocative of chafes 
and galls. It should always be carefully fitted and adjusted, and 
frequent inspection of the gear and appliances during work, and 
readjustment of loads gear when necessary must be enforced. 
After work when the gear is removed careful inspection for chafes 
should be instituted. Mahouts from malice sometim.es place foreign 
bodies such as stones under the guddela with the intention of 
laying up an animal as before remarked under pack-gear. Some 
mahouts from ignorance or thoughtlessness stow away spare chains 
into the space of the guddee, which when placed on the guddela 
forms a convenient receptacle. This is a serious malpractice. To 
sum up, all preventive treatment consists in thorough supervision. 
Curative. — Rest so far as it will remove the offending agent is 
imperative, by which is meant should there be a crupper gall, and the 
animal can be worked without the crupper no harm need arise. 
The raw surface, however small or apparently trifling, should be at 
once attended to and dusting powders, ointment, applied [see 
Formulae 64 to 69 and 125 to 129). 
Should the abrasion be situated on a swollen base, cold applica- 
tions should be frequently applied night and day or in the form of 
cooling lotions [see Formulae 103 to 106) to try and check the 
condition running on to abscess, but should there be no reduction 
of heat, pain and swelling within three days, hot continuous 
fomentations must be substituted to hasten the formation of matter 
which it may be taken is certain to be forming. These hot fomen- 
tations will also assist in hastening the detachment of any dead 
tissues, should there be sloughing. Those parts where fetters, etc., 
are applied for tethering purposes are liable to chafes and galls ; 
when this occurs they ought to be placed on other limbs. 
In recently captured elephants thongs and ropes must be tied 
if necessary in a new situation or discarded, and extra fetters and 
tethering chains put on for security. 
In these cases, owing to the danger of approaching the animal, 
the sores are neglected and maggots gain access ; they should be 
treated as laid down under wounds. The use of a powerful syringe 
to frequently play disinfectants on affected parts is most necessary 
in dealing with these wild beasts. 
On service it is sometimes necessary to work animals with 
slight galls. In such cases the injured parts may be relieved by 
