CENTRAL VETERINARY MEDICAL SOCIETY. 
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Mr. J. Woody er , sen., argued in favour of the actual cautery ; 
and Messrs. W. Clark and H. L. Simpson spoke of the efficacy of 
chloride of zinc. 
Mr. J. B. Cox said the wounds which terminate in fistulae, as a 
rule, are in no wise different from those which, inflicted in similar 
parts by analogous means, terminate favorably under early and suit- 
able treatment. Delay, neglect, and maltreatment frequently make 
matters worse, and the collateral destruction of tissue aggravates the 
condition of the already damaged parts. Diseased or actually dead 
tissue is imprisoned by surrounding swollen and congested parts 
through which no passage can be effected except by a slow process 
of reduction by solution. It is his practice to expose such deposits 
and remove them as soon as possible, after which the conditions are 
improved by the ordinary treatment for wounds generally. Mr. 
Cox then went into important details illustrating the advisability of 
dividing the plantar nerve during severe suffering from acute abscess 
and extensive chronic sinuses in the foot, by which much of the 
difficulty of treatment and consequent delay, together with corre- 
sponding animal suffering, loss of condition, &c., is avoided. 
The Secretary referred to the importance of early attention to 
injuries in the vicinity of the coronet, poll, and withers, by which 
sinuses or fistulae may be avoided. He advocated, with previous 
speakers, the necessity of removing in chronic disease all dead and 
imprisoned portions of tissue, and advised treatment by free incision, 
the actual cautery and caustic injections. The importance of 
exercise or work, as soon as either could be undertaken by the ani- 
mal, was mentioned as being useful in promoting a more certain 
expulsion of pus and morbid matters ; he urged the practice recom- 
mended by Mr. Cox, namely, simple neurotomy, when the pain was 
very intense. 
Mr. W. Hunting briefly reviewed the action of the remedies 
spoken of, and drew attention to the objects for which each is de- 
signed, the principle of cure being the removal of the cause. He 
considered the use of poultices in these affections was a question 
upon which deliberative minds should offer an opinion. His lead 
him to the belief that they are resorted to more frequently than is 
desirable, whereby parts are maintained in a state of congestion too 
long, and their loss of vitality thereby insured, thus adding intensity 
to existing morbid conditions, and producing bad results which a 
proper system of surgery would enable us to avoid altogether. 
Mr. F. J. Stanley spoke of the efficacy of carbolic acid after free 
incision of the sinuses has been made, and the parts reduced to the 
state of a common wound. 
The President then briefly passed over in review the various 
opinions given by the speakers, the majority of Fellows having 
taken part in the debate, adding the results of his experience on the 
question, as derived from practice abroad as well as at home. The 
use of the actual cautery, he said, possessed more of the appear- 
ances than reality of a barbarous treatment. Its effects are highly 
useful in ordinary wounds as well as fistulae, as he had found among 
