638 
A NEW MODE OF TREATING WOUNDS 
In order to obtain a cure of wounds penetrating into the articu¬ 
lations, a variety of means have been vaunted and tried, some with 
partial or even complete success, and others altogether without 
benefit. Sometimes the articular wounds heal spontaneously, 
without enlargement or anchylosis of the joint. Sometimes they 
are simple, and without complication, and by proper treatment 
their cicatrization may be obtained. Often they terminate in true 
or false anchylosis; and, lastly, in a great number of cases, these 
wounds are incurable, whether it is that death is the result of the 
intensity of the sufferings of the animal, or, on other accounts, it 
becomes necessary to destroy the sufferer. 
This being premised, it is evidently a most important thing to 
discover some means by which a cure may be obtained of every 
articular fistula, quickly, completely, and without anchylosis, what¬ 
ever may be the degree of inflammation in the articulation. I will 
not dare to say that I have obtained this; I only yet possess suf¬ 
ficient facts for the groundwork of future study and practice. My 
object at present is to make known an agent which has always 
enabled me to conquer these articular fistulse. 
That agent is not new in our therapeutics. It is Veau de 
Rahel, composed of one part of sulphuric acid and four of alcohol. 
The ordinary composition of this medicament is one part of acid 
and three of alcohol. 
I was led to use this medicament by having had to treat a fis¬ 
tulous wound penetrating into the articulation of the lower pastern 
and coffin-bones. This fistula had bid defiance to every healing 
measure that had been attempted. I bethought me, that certain 
chemical reagents, the acids, and alcohol among the rest, had the 
power of coagulating albumen. Might not the same effect be pro¬ 
duced by these agents on the synovia, a fluid which contained so 
great a proportion of albumen 1 I attempted it. I lessened the 
caustic properties of Veau de Rahel by adding to it one propor¬ 
tion of alcohol, and I applied^ it to the fistula. I immediately ob¬ 
tained, to a considerable extent, the result that I wished, and in 
three weeks the articulation was closed without either enlargement 
or anchylosis. The following were the circumstances to which I 
paid the strictest attention :— 
I. The articulation was kept as much as possible without mo¬ 
tion. This may be easily accomplished in some of the articula¬ 
tions by the aid of bandages. That which I generally use, and 
which is most convenient for the knee, is the following: take five 
strong laths, and cut them to the length of the limb; then, with 
four bandages with buckles, apply them tightly about the limb, 
having placed some thick pledgets of tow over their inner surface. 
This will keep the leg extended and the articulation immoveable. 
