1 26 WOUNDS OF THE HEAD, &C. 
Monday , 8 th .—The horse is much livelier, his pulse normal, 
and he eats better than he has done since the third day after 
the accident. 
Saturday, 13 th .—There is much improvement generally in the 
state of my patient, although he refuses hay to a great extent. 
He has been put to light work. From this day he improved 
rapidly in condition ; he worked well, but ate little hay for some 
time afterwards. The swelling did not entirely disappear, 
although the pain on pressure continued, but very slightly. 
Lacerated Wounds of the Head, with Abscess in the 
Parotid Region. 
On the 28th October 1851, a brown gelding, nine years old, 
used in the South Hetton Coal Pit, refused to progress, and was, 
in consequence, rather roughly handled. He became restive, 
and, on being loosened from the tubs, ran away through the 
more capacious subterranean viaducts into those only adapted 
for ponies, which are not more than four feet high. Here he 
completely stuck fast, and could only be extricated by the stone 
and coal around him being cut away. On the horse being 
removed to the stable, l found two very extensive lacerations on 
the head; the one exposing almost the entire surface of the 
parietal bones right up to the occiput; the other one on the right 
side extending from the zygomatic ridge downwards, laying bare 
two-thirds of the external masseter muscle: this was a super¬ 
ficial wound, except below the zygomatic ridge, where the bone 
was exposed. 
Although the animal appeared dull, and his pulse was 52, still 
his appetite continued as usual. Thus, besides simply dressing 
the wound, I prescribed an appropriate aperient. 
November 13 th .—It would be here useless to detail the daily 
progress of the case, as the wounds cicatrized very favourably, 
and I had intended sending him to work to-day, when the horse- 
keeper informed me that the horse’s neck was much swollen, 
and very itchy. I dealt slightly with the man’s intelligence, 
inasmuch as when I last saw the horse, about thirty hours since, 
he was perfectly well. 
Friday , 14^A.— I descended the pit this morning, and found 
the horse with a neck swollen to a most extraordinary extent, 
and projecting from the right side, as large again as a man’s 
hat: it filled up the whole submaxillary space, and projected 
as far back as the middle of the neck. The horse had so effectu¬ 
ally rubbed this irritable tumour as to excoriate the most pro¬ 
minent parts. It was hard, hot, and not very painful, if firmly 
