THE CAUTERY AND THE SETON. 
291 
' to give applause where it has been deserved ; and Mr. Sewell 
has experienced this. I think we are rather too liberal in that 
respect. But the guilt of giving praise where it is not due 
shall not lie on me. 
THE CAUTERY AND THE SETON. 
Hij P. Vatel, Professor of the Royal Veterinary School at 
Alfort, 
[It may be interesting to our readers to become acquainted 
with the opinions of the French veterinarians on the important 
subjects that have lately occupied the attention of the Veterinary 
Medical Association. We first give in detail Professor Vatel’s 
account of these tw r o operations. We make no apology for the 
length of it : we wished to make it complete, for it will be an 
account frequently referred to by the student.] 
THE CAUTERY. 
The term cautery, or cauterization, comprises the operation 
by means of which we destroy, through the instrumentality of 
the fire, or certain chemical agents, the organization or the life 
of certain parts ; and also that by which, through the medium of 
bodies actually burning, or of heated metals, we cause a certain 
portion of caloric to penetrate into the tissues without disorganiz- 
ing them. 
The first operation causes a degree of pain more or less in- 
tense, and the formation of an eschar dry or humid, which is pro- 
duced by the disorganized tissues, combined or not with the 
caustic matter. Its secondary effects are, a determination of 
fluids to the part; and, soon afterwards, an eliminatory inflam- 
mation, followed by a loss of substance, and a suppuration more 
or less abundant. Each of these effects of the cautery varies in 
intensity, according to the nature of the substance employed, and 
the duration of its application. 
The substances which produce a rapid disorganization of the 
parts form two grand classes. The first comprises those which 
are termed the potential cauteries , or simple caustics. They de- 
stroy the texture of the organs by combining them with their 
own chemical elements, and forming new compounds, destitute 
of life, and presenting themselves under the form eschars. The 
actual cauteries act on the tissues by means of the great quantity 
of caloric that they contain, and which they impart with the 
greatest rapidity to the substances with which they are brought 
