380 UPON THE TREATMENT OF OPEN JOINT. 
attendant was to remove nothing which might appear upon 
the surface of the injured part, not to touch the wound itself; 
but he was to squeeze the sponge upon the pastern, and to 
permit the liquid to trickle upon the sore. 
This was continued for a fortnight, at the expiration of 
which period the animal could not put the foot to the 
ground. So lame was she that it occupied ten minutes for 
her to hop twenty yards ; yet, though in this state of suffering, 
and in a hind foot, she only slightly fell away, and was 
perfectly quiet: her attendant used to enter her loose box, 
and without tying up her head, dress the foot ; she became 
one of the gentlest animals I ever knew. At the end of a 
fortnight a piece of tendon sloughed away ; it was two inches 
long and one inch and a half broad. Now we had a decided 
open joint, and yet from this time the mare began to 
improve, until, at the end of six w r eeks, she was sent home as 
sound as ever she had been in her life, the orifice being 
perfectly healed over. 
Case 2. — A small but remarkably handsome chesnut mare 
was being ridden in the park, when she came down upon a 
newly gravelled portion of the road and cut her knees most 
frightfully. The owner, who was on her back at the time and 
was unhurt by the fall, upon seeing the condition of his 
horse, ordered her to be killed; but a person who kept a 
riding-shool in the outskirts of London happening to pass, 
he gave the animal to him to do as he pleased with. It was 
by the last-named gentleman that I was called in, and he 
was very desirous the animal should be saved, although 
having seen several of such cases, he was uncommonly 
doubtful with regard to the result. 
In this case I neither bled nor purged, but as before, sent 
cheering drinks. A groom was ordered to sit up with the 
animal, and to bathe the knees every half-hour with some of 
the lotion first sent in the other case ; I had the animal’s head 
tied up, and my own slings being in use I went to Camden 
Town to borrow^ a pair of my excellent friend Mr. Gowing, 
who returning wfith me looked at the knees, and said he did 
not think the mare had cut herself severely. However, the 
slings were fixed, and after four days’ standing upon injured 
limbs, the animal, although a very ticklish one, took to them 
very comfortably : it is after this fashion I propose the slings 
should always be applied, first render the animal thoroughly 
tired by tying up the head, and obliging him to stand, then 
offer the slings ; of course a fresh horse will kick his life out 
when he feels such things touching his girth and his flanks, 
but it is very different with an animal that is thoroughly worn 
