THE VETERINARY ART IN INDIA. 
533 
poultices are changed, previous to applying the fresh one, warm 
fomentations of mango leaves in hot water will assist in advanc- 
ing it. When ripe, it will burst, unless an opening is made by 
the knife. I have generally found that the stronger digestives 
were useful in these ulcers. After the lint is placed on the ori- 
fice, a plaister of basilicon ointment, softened with turpentine, will 
be proper ; and if the ulcers are of long standing, or if they have 
been neglected in the first instance, or have been under the care of 
ignorant persons, it will generally be necessary to sprinkle some 
red precipitate, or blue vitriol, finely powdered, on the surface and 
edges for three or four days. These may be afterwards dressed 
with an equal quantity of tar and Venice turpentine, and, if this 
is not found sufficiently strong, the Venice turpentine alone may 
be applied, first placing a piece of lint on the surface of the wound. 
It is the very improper treatment which these sores receive in 
their first state which produces what is termed a warble, and 
which can never take place if the directions above are attended 
to. A warble is but an ill-conditioned abscess, in which repel- 
lents have been used in the place of emollients, and such treat- 
ment generally produces ill-conditioned ulcers, that have been 
known to penetrate to the spine, and destroy the bones. Such 
are frequently the effects of the miserable treatment to which this 
animal is subject, from the ignorance of the persons usually 
employed to relieve them. 
Strains. 
Strains in the horse are generally situated near the ligaments 
by which the joints are attached, or in the surrounding muscles, 
and but very seldom (perhaps never) in the tendons, which are 
the parts usually supposed to be the seat of disease. The structure 
of tendons is such as renders them very difficult to be inflamed or 
in much pain, from their small supply of bloodvessels and nerves, 
which circumstance renders them almost insensible : they have 
beside no motion of their own, being dependent on the muscles 
to which they belong. 
A horse seldom strains a joint or the surrounding muscles when 
animated, as the muscles of voluntary motion are then exerted ; 
and during this state it requires great force to injure them. This 
is not the case when the animal is careless. For example, when 
he is moving along a smooth -looking road with careless security, 
if unexpectedly his foot should slip into a deep hole, the muscles 
are taken by surprise; and the ligaments alone, not being equal 
to the weight and exertion of the animal, become bruised by the 
heads of the bones, for it is, perhaps, the muscles more than the 
ligaments which strengthen the joints ; or the muscles in their 
relaxed state may Jbe with ease strained, which is very difficult 
